Related
by terratasha
Summary: Sequel to The PET III: Regal is on a mission to find the factor that makes three certain netsavers so powerful and use it against them to rip them apart. But when he stumbles upon the answer it leads to a surprising revelation; one that no one is ready to face...
1. Discoveries

Chapter 1

Discoveries

"Lan Hikari, Chaud Blaze, and Terra Javedson, what is it that makes you three so special?" Regal asked himself as he looked over the information that he had complied on his greatest enemies, three teenagers to be exact, not much more than children. But these _'children'_ were turning out to be the most formidable opponents he had ever faced.

"I've tried intimidation, I've tried fear, nothing works, what is it that makes these three netsavers and their netnavi's bonds so strong? If I could just break that then they'd be helpless." As he thought it over he remembered a new piece of information. Lan Hikari and Megaman were brothers, identical twins, that could account for their bond but what about the other two? He pulled up a second window that contained the netsavers and their netnavi's profiles. As he looked on he began to notice that the resemblance between each pair was striking. When you're in the middle of a battle the last thing that you pay attention to is your opponents' appearance, but now he could see it. The resemblance between Lan and Megaman was of no question, but as he looked on he noticed how much Terra and Whisper looked like on another as well as Chaud and Protoman. Although 50 percent of Protoman's face was always hidden the strong set jaw that he had now gave an eerie resemblance to the one that Chaud was beginning to show. Could there be more to these four that met the eye?

"Computer," Regal commanded," pull up all corresponding records on Chaud Blaze, Lan Hikari, and Terra Javedson." When the computer accomplished his task it left three documents on the screen. Regal's eyes widened. No it wasn't possible…

* * *

"UUUUUUUUH." Terra groaned as she tossed and turned in her bed.

Dream sequence…

"_Araya, Chaud where are you?" a voice called out. A then six year old Terra kneeled behind a wooden swing in her back yard in Metro City._

"_Come out come out wherever you are!" the voice called out again as it got closer and closer to her hiding place. Terra was torn, she wanted to stay where she was but that wasn't an option, she would have to run for it and hope she was fast enough to reach base._

"_Ha!" the voice called out again when Terra left her hiding spot and started to run around to the front of the house. "I'm ganna get you!" the voice called out behind her._

"_No you won't!" Terra said back in a teasing tone looking over her shoulder as she rounded the corner of the house, she was almost to base, Chaud was already there she could see him, if she could just make it then she wouldn't have to be it! Hearing a loud crashing noise she quickly turned around to see a car hit the curb of her street and flip into the air. Within milliseconds all she could see was a pair of bright headlights coming toward her, she was hypnotized, locked in place like a deer would be in the same situation…_

"_Airie!" the voice yelled out to her, the next thing Terra knew was that she was meting the paved sidewalk, hard. When she picked herself off the ground all she could see was the carnage of a wrecked car and her sister underneath its wheels…_

_End dream sequence…_

"Skyler!" Terra exclaimed as she shot up from her bed in a cold sweat.

"Terra are you ok?" Whisper asked as she materialized in the room.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Terra half lied, " it was just a bad dream that's all."

"You've been having a lot of bad dreams lately, are you sure your ok?" Whisper asked.

"Yes, Whisper," Terra said more strongly this time, "I am a ok, nightmares are normal you know, in fact they're healthy."

"Yes but these are repetitive, and repetitive dreams mean that your unconsciousness is trying to tell you something, remember, the same thing happened to Lan." Whisper said throwing Terra's defense back at her, "Plus you're always screaming out the name Skyler, who is that?"

"I don't know," Terra said fully lying this time and taking hold of the locket that was engraved with Whisper's symbol that she had worn every day for the past year, "she's probably just a figment of my imagination." Then she looked at the clock, "Whisper, it's 7:42, you should have woken me up 12 minutes ago."

Whisper looked back at the clock, "I know, but it's the weekend you should be able to sleep in."

"Whisper you know what that chief's been doing."

"Yeah, working us to death, and don't tell me I already know his motto: "Until Regal's behind bars we're in a constant war between good and evil. And until we know why Regal stole part of your life force and spared your lives we are forever in the dark. Just because he hasn't struck doesn't mean he won't we must not be caught unaware." And honestly that would have to be the longest motto I've ever heard or probably ever will, but in tune with that he works us every day after school and now he's working us on the weekends and personally I'm sick of it! It won't kill anybody if we slept in one Saturday and was late for practice."

"You're right," Terra replied, "and any other day in would agree with you and I would sleep in, but after this nightmare there's no way that I can go back to sleep so I might as well get up." She said getting out of her bed and heading for the shower.

"Terra, you're sure you're ok?" Whisper asked as she watched her op leave.

"For the last time Whisper I'm fine." Terra replied closing her bathroom door.

Whisper stared at the closed door for a couple of seconds. She knew her op, and as much as she tried to ignore it there was something wrong…

* * *

"Knight sword, battlechip in!" Lan exclaimed.

"Hero sword, battlechip in!" Chaud counteracted, Terra hearing their exclamations as she made her way to the observation deck of the practice arena. When she made it she found Mega and Proto materialized looking over the computers that were monitoring the power levels and improvements of Lan and Chaud's skills.

"So is Lan's swordmenship getting any better?" Terra asked announcing her presence as Whisper materialized behind her.

"Oh hey Terra," Mega said as he turned around to face her, "yeah, his sparring speed is looking better."

"So I'm guessing that you decided to sleep in?" Proto asked commenting on her tardiness.

"Well hello Protoman it's nice to see you too." Terra said in reply to Proto's frankness. "Yeah I decided to sleep in a little. I've almost had enough of this insane schedule." Terra said sitting on one of the chairs.

"Yeah I know what you mean." Mega replied.

"Yield," Lan suddenly called out. When everyone glanced down they noticed that Lan held up his sword underneath Chaud's throat forcing him to surrender.

"Wow he really is getting better." Whisper commented on the scene.

"OMG, I can't believe I just beat you!" Lan exclaimed when they came back in the room.

"You got fortunate that's all." Chaud replied as he came in behind him.

"Hey I'll take what I can get, oh hey Terra when did you get here?" Lan asked noticing her there.

"Just a few seconds ago, and congratulations, it looks like at least someone's benefiting from this workaholics' schedule that the chief has us on," she replied, "and don't be too sore Chaud, Lan was bound to beat you sooner or later."

Chaud replied with a scoff, his pride temporally wounded.

"Thank you." Lan replied.

"So what dose the chief have in store for me today?" Terra asked.

"Well," Lan said as he looked over the schedule that his father and the chief had left behind, "the chief has you pared with Mega, he says you need to work on your swordmenship too, your sparring speeds fine but your footwork's getting lax. And Hub he has you working on your defense, he thinks if we come up against Dark Whisper again or a similar navi that they'll find too many openings."

You guys want to ditch?" Terra asked suddenly.

"What?" Proto asked.

"Ditch, you know like skip?" she replied.

"I know what it means, but I never thought of putting you and the word ditch in the same sentence." Proto replied. "That's more like Lan's thing."

"Well I hate to break your heart, but I have skipped before." Terra said. "It wasn't anything big," Terra said when she stated getting weird looks, "It was Art 1 and I was three days ahead of everybody in the class it's not like I missed anything."

"Did you get caught?" Mega asked.

"No," Terra replied, "it was the first class I had, I just said I was tardy, which I was."

"Well I can tell you that I would like to skip and I would do it if both my dad and the chief were out of town, but they're not." Lan said.

"Well can't say I didn't try," Terra replied taking out her PET while Mega switched from his human look back to the naiv, "hey where's your dad and the chief anyway?" she asked noticing their absence.

"Dad's somewhere in one of the labs, he and Famous are working on something. I don't know where the chief is." Mega commented.

"I would count that a blessing if I were you, at least you don't have the chief looking over your shoulder analyzing your every move making you repeat the same skill over and over until you have it perfect, perfect in his eyes anyway." Whisper added taking Mega's seat at one of the monitors.

"I think I will, thanks" Terra replied making her way out of the room.

"Yeah," Mega replied agreeing with her as he followed her out.

"Ok get ready." Proto said as he pulled up the dimensional area with Chaud beginning the count down with Mega and Terra taking defensive positions across from one another.

"3,2,1, now!" Chaud called finishing the countdown.

Terra stood facing her opponent, she was going to let Mega make the first move, this had always been her philosophy, that way she would always know what to expect. Mega knew this to and decided to do what she wanted, after all he didn't want to be here all day.

"Step sword, battlechip in." he called out as he began to advance on her.

"Cyber sword, battlechip in." Terra counteracted as he came at her…

After a few minuets of sparring Terra lost her concentration, sounds of laughter filled her mind along with screams of sorrow, skidding tires, and those spinning wheels…

"Whoa!" she yelled out as she found herself losing her balance. When her mind had begun to drift Mega had found an opening and swung his right leg out knocking Terra's feet out from under her making her fall forward. Her reflexes kicked in leaving her in a push up position almost kissing the floor.

"Yield," Mega said as he held out his blade to her.

Terra looked up as a sly smile began to play on her lips, she was just in the right position and his sword was held at just the right angle where she wouldn't have to…

"I don't think so." She replied launching herself from the ground and lifting her body into a handstand position placing her self between Mega's body and his sword and slamming her feet underneath his chin knocking him back.

"Uhh," Mega groaned as he flipped backwards using the momentum that Terra had given him landing back on his feet.

"Areasteal battlechip in!" Terra exclaimed as she shot toward him in a fluid motion of rainbow color and held her sword up to him, "Now that's a proper yield."

"I couldn't agree more. Now that's what I call netbattling." The chief's voice said coming over the intercom, "Great job Terra, Megaman you got her in her footwork but you still need to work on that defense of yours, she got you good there."

"Great," Mega said as he rolled his eyes, "that all I want to do in my spare time, practice defense techniques."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to show you up like that. I didn't break your jaw did I?" Terra asked.

"No," Mega replied with a laugh as he headed back to the deck, "but that was a pretty impressive move back there, I have to say it caught me totally off guard." After a few seconds of silence Mega spoke again his voice changing from a joking tone to one that voiced concern. "Terra are you ok?" he asked.

"Sure why?" Terra asked back slightly startled by his change in tone.

"I don't know, you just seem to be distracted lately even during the battle just now your eyes glazed over like you weren't totally there, the only time I've seen that is when something's really bothering someone. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Hub, just like I've told Whisper a million times I'm fine, don't worry." Terra said as she placed her hand on the door handle and turned her back to it.

Mega had known Terra long enough to know that that wasn't true and he gave a look that told her that she was contradicting herself.

"Ok," Terra admitted, "So, I do have something in my mind but it's not that big of a deal, noting I can't handle anyways."

"Ok," Mega replied, "but keep in mind that I do know you well enough to know that that isn't true. If it was nothing you wouldn't have let it encroach on you concentration like that. But since I haven't exactly been the most honest person on the planet I won't press you about it, but if you want to talk about it you know who you can come to." Mega said as he passed her leaving her to follow him through the door.

When they got back to the deck they found Dr. Hikari and Kiefer there.

'Well I guess it's a good thing we didn't skip.' Terra thought.

"Dr. Hikari, I have to commend you, these six netsavers are making remarkable progress, you've done a great job training them."

"Ok, thank you sir, but I think most of the credit should go to them, I haven't been around lately to monitor them firsthand, they've been training themselves and each other for the past couple of weeks."

"Well I guess congratulations are in order all around then. Nothing trains a team more than letting them learn together and it helps form a bond that can never be broken. Speaking of training Protoman, Whisper, you're up next." The chief said addressing the two navis.

"Yes sir," they both replied as they made their way out and their ops taking places at the computers, with Lan and Mega looking over their shoulders.

"But back to what I was saying," the chief said, "I can't get over the remarkable progress that the children have made, especially Lan and Megaman, their synchro level has skyrocketed in the past few weeks. Are you harboring a special training secret that the rest of the organization needs to know about?"

When Chaud and Terra heard this concentration on their navi's battle was broken and they could feel Lan and Mega tense.

"Um, nothing that I know of," Dr. Hikari replied, then all of a sudden the beeper connected to his lab coat went off. "Oh, I'm sorry chief I going to have to duck out, the computers done analyzing the data that Lan and Protoman retrieved from those resurrected darkloids the other day, I need to check this." Dr. Hikari said as he hurried off.

When he left the chief turned his attention to Mega and Lan. "Lan, Megaman, can I speak with you for a moment alone?" when Lan and Mega turned around the chief was taken aback. He had never seen Mega without his navi look and with out it they shared an uncanny resemblance.

"Sure," they replied as they followed the chief into the next room.

After a few seconds Terra slipped a thumb drive onto the USB connection and got up from her computer and slipped over to the door sitting down next to it with her ear pressed against it.

"What are you doing?" Chaud asked in a hushed tone.

"Are you telling me that you didn't see that look that the chief had on his face when he saw the resemblance between Lan and Mega? Besides what dose it look like I'm doing?" Terra shot back.

"Yeah, I noticed, but it looks like your eavesdropping." Chaud replied. "And don't think that the chief won't notice that you didn't record Whisper's stats and I'm not going to be your partner in crime."

"Well for your information I don't need your help. The thumb drive that I put in the computer opened a program that will record Whisper's stats for me and I'm not eavesdropping," Terra replied, "I'm just trying to see whether Lan and Hub need any help in the field of creative dialogue."

"You mean lying?" Chaud asked.

"No, I mean creative dialogue, there's a difference, now shut up I cant hear what they're saying!"

"You're crazy you know that?" Chaud asked.

"Well that's what they tell me," Terra replied, "besides crazy people have more fun then rigid people like you." She said as she pressed her ear back to the door.

When Chaud went back to monitoring Protoman's stats Terra was able to hear what the chief, Lan and Mega were saying.

"Like I was telling your father earlier Lan, you two have made remarkable progress, I've never seen a pairs synchro level jump so fast, there is definitely something special about you two. And with the situation that we're in you see the importance of being able to improve at a rapid pace. Are you sure you have no idea how your synchro level improved so quickly?"

"Well I really wish I could help you but I can't explain it. I don't know what happened all I know is that it did." Lan replied.

"Yeah, I have no clue how it happened either, Mega added supporting his brother's comment.

The chief was about to say something else when…

"OMG, I almost did it!" Whisper exclaimed as she suddenly rematerialized by Terra making her jump.

Terra quickly drug Whisper away from the door and to the other side of the room. "What?" she asked.

"I almost got Protoman's visor off." Whisper replied with a wide grin.

"How'd you manage that. I thought that he way faster than you? And since when have you wanted to get his visor off?"

"Probably since the first time I met him. There's just this air of mystery that visor creates and you know how I hate a mystery. And it was purely an accident anyway, he caught me on my footwork and tripped me. I used a laser blast to counteract but if I'd used a wide sword I would have been the right distance away to slash that visor into oblivion."

"You like him don't you?" Terra asked.

"What? Who said I liked him?" Whisper asked back.

"No one it's just written all over your face." Terra replied.

"Well I have no comment." Whisper said back.

"So who won?"

"Protoman duh, I don't think Chaud could beat him in a netbattle, how am I suppose to?"

"Well how bad did you lose then?" Terra asked.

"Not that badly, he ended up tripping me again and that time I landed on my back, so it was over then."

"Sounds like you need to work on your footwork more than me." Terra said.

"Maybe," Whisper replied.

"Or, you could ask for a new sparring partner, one that won't capture you with his dark mysterious charm." Terra said suddenly.

Whisper was about to interject when Protoman came in.

"Hey, Whisper where'd you go?" Protoman asked as he came through the door, "One second you were there and the next second you were gone."

"Oh, I uh, used the net to get back." Whisper said.

"And scared the heck out of me in the process." Terra added.

"You were that deep into the stats that you didn't notice her log out?" Proto asked, Terra didn't answer. "You weren't paying attention to the battle were you?"

"No, not exactly, my skills were needed else where." Terra replied.

"And where would that be?" Proto asked.

"That would be there," Terra said as she pointed to the closed door just as the chief, Mega and Lan filled out.

"Thanks again for all your help, maybe we'll figure out this mystery," the chief, said, "Well I guess that you six have done your fair amount of civic duty for a Saturday morning, you're excused to do what ever you young people do in your spare time."

"Thanks," the group replied as the chief disappeared down the hall.

"What was that about?" Whisper and Proto asked once Chief Kiefer was gone.

"Well he noticed how Mega and my synchro level's jacked up so high, and he wanted to know if we knew anything that accounted for that." Lan said.

"What did you tell him." Chaud asked.

"That we had no idea, he has to trust us too much," Mega replied, "because I don't think that I was very convincing."

"Well he has no reason to doubt you. Are you starting to think that it was a bad idea not telling him the truth?" Terra asked.

"No, but it's just starting to make things a little complicated, I mean the only reason that the synchro levels jacked up is because Lan knows the truth, that ended up opening the link that we use to have, which enhanced the link that crossfusion's created."

"You can hear each others thoughts all the time then?" Proto asked.

"No, the whole natural twin ESP thing is pure fiction, it's the side-effect from the constant crossfusion that bridged our minds; like it did yours." Lan replied.

"The link we had when we were kids was never that strong. We just have the impression that the other is there, like a general emotional imprint. We can tell if each other is happy or sad; but if something leaves a big enough of an impression or is extream enough we might get a flash of what the other is seeing, or hear what's going on, but that's rare. Seriously though Mega I think your taking this 'big brother' thing a little to far though. Ever since the truth came out you've used the link to constantly check up on me. You're only three minuets older than me, its not like it's three years!" Lan said as he turned to his brother.

"Yeah well all things aside dad did tell me to keep an eye on you little bro."

"Yeah well I don't need it 'big bro'." Lan replied, "I'm 14."

Chaud and the others found the scene amusing. Ever since the truth had come out about Mega a 'sibling rivalry' had formed between the two, and it was intriguing to watch.

"You ever think that might change?" Terra asked.

"What?" Lan and Mega asked together.

"The link between you. I mean you don't have "twinsense" in the cinamatic way; you know seeing through each other's eyes or hearing things without it being really extream. But have you ever thought that maybe with you being twins and having nearly idential minds coupled with the side effects from the crossfussion that you've already experenced, that it might continue to link your minds like that? Everytime we crossfuse we share the same body, all the sensory information going into one body but to two minds. It's not that far of a strech when you think about it. You're already on the same waverlength."

"Huh, I've never thought about it." Mega comented.

Lan looked a little distressed. "That seems like a HUGE potential for invasion of privacy."

"Hey what are you guys still doing here? I thought that you all had been dismissed?" Famous said as he passed the room.

"Oh just hanging out." Lan replied.

"Really, after all of you complain about having to practice on the weekend you'd think that you'd shoot out of here as soon as someone gave you the go ahead, but you always end up sticking around. But practice is over get out of here." Famous said pushing them toward the exit.

"Wow never thought I'd ever get kicked out of Scilab." Terra said as Famous shut the door behind them.

"Well I'm glad to get out of there." Lan said.

"So do you have any plans?" Chaud asked Terra as they began to walk down the street into the city.

"Yeah, I do, Maylu and I are going to catch a bus into Tokyo and go shopping." The boys gave her a weird look. "Hey I may be a slight tomboy but I am still a girl guys; I'm more girly than you give me credit for."

But just a Terra reached into her pocket for her PET to call Maylu a strange yet familiar noise could be heard which was followed by a loud impact along with panicked screams.

"Please tell me that I didn't hear what I though I heard." Terra said.

"Ok, so we wont tell you that a dimensional area just covered the entire block." Proto replied.

"Great." Terra simply replied as their PET's started going off.

"Guys," Famous stated as he appeared on their screen. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we've got a problem. A darkloid's broken in to the observatory. We think that it's after the comet fragment that's been brought into the city."

"So it's probably Novaman right?" Mega asked.

"Exactly," Famous replied, "this fragmant's been grabbing a lot of attention since it's been discovered that it's composed of some very volatile elements that aren't found here on Earth. Seems like its gotten Nebula's attention. We need you to protect it. There's no telling what Regal might do if he gets his hands on it, so you need to get to the corner of 32nd and 52nd right away."

"Don't worry doc, we're already there." Lan replied.

"Yeah, Famous don't worry we're on it." Chaud replied.

'Good, we're counting on you." Famous said as he cut the transmission.

"Ok, lets get this over with," Terra said as she and the others crossfused and activated the double crossfusion, "I plan on doing something for myself this weekend and Novaman just picked the wrong day to screw my plans." She said as she began to walk the building.

Once inside they found the building completely empty.

"Where is everybody?" Lan asked.

"They must have all evacuated before the dimensional area sealed them in." Chaud replied.

"Well in any case I don't like this it's too quiet." Protoman added, "If Novaman was going after the fragment we should be hearing something.

"Wow, Protoman how perceptive of you, meteor!" a new voice called out as it joined the rest.

"Life aura 3, battlechip in!" Whisper instinctly called out throwing up the barrier on time to block Novaman's attack.

"Quick reflexes, but I'm faster, light speed!" Novaman exclaimed as he disappeared and reappeared behind her. "Long sword!" he called out as he tried to run her through…

TBC


	2. Upgrades

Chapter 2

Upgrades

Whisper glanced down looking at the sword that had cleanly passed through her. Just seconds before she had called out "Phaser!" so she received no damage at all. This just left her to scoff and roll her eyes at Novaman's fruitless attempt to log her out.

"You know I use to find you darkloids amusing but now you're really starting to grate on me." She said as she reached back grabbing Novaman's arm and flipping him over her shoulder, slinging him to the ground.

"Areasteal," He called out before Protoman could strike him while he was down, disappearing and reappearing by the railing above them on the second floor.

"How is it possible that you can use battlechip data? I thought that Darkloids only relied on your own abilities! And shouldn't you be trying to steal some comet fragment or something!" Terra asked as she turned around to face him.

"What do you take us for? Idiots?" Novaman said with a smirk. "What would be the point of going through all those firewalls and sapping our energy when we'll just have to fight you later? I might as well save all my energy for you 6, get rid of you, and relax while I work."

"That is a great philosophy," Terra said nonchalantly, "So, who gave you your upgrade?"

"Regal, he's a great doctor. You want to see more of his modern day miracles?" He asked.

"Oh," Whisper said with a chuckle, "We would love to."

"Well you asked for it, Supernova!" He called out as he released his attack.

"Holy panel, battlechip in!" Both Lan and Mega called out as the two of them held up the forcefield, keeping the attack back keeping everyone safe behind.

"Impressive, for a teenager and a dead guy." Novaman said as he relinquished his attack.

"Does everyone know about that?" Mega asked slightly annoyed.

"Oh yeah," Novaman replied, "We know all about you and your human life, how it was unfairly cut short and your father saved you by turning you into a netnavi, and how you had to hide the truth from your brother for the last three years. We know everything about you Hub, we have no secrets in our organization."

"Let me at him." Protoman hissed under his breath loud enough for everyone to hear except for Novaman.

"Protoman, unnecessary violence isn't going to solve anything." Mega replied.

"I know," Proto replied, "but I really wish someone would shut him up."

"Hey are we going to battle or are you just gonna stand and talk all day?" Novaman asked with vindication.

"Oh believe me, nothing would please me more than to log you out!" Lan replied with venom.

"Good, then lets get started. Shooting Stars!" Novaman called out. The group dodged the first string of the attack by jumping clear but Novaman kept it coming.

"You're going to need a lift." Lan and Mega said simultaneously as they glanced at the coming attack. Terra and Whisper instinctively stepped back into Mega and Lan's cupped hands, even thought their voices were low both Terra and Whisper could hear their agitation. In the next second they were in the air coming head to head with Novaman's attack, the two began to twist and flip from star to star before they imploded. But even though they were in a serious situation their shared sarcastic wit shinned through.

"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may I wish I might to delete Novaman tonight!" Whisper and Terra exclaimed together as they emerged from the smoke as the last star exploded. "Knight sword, battlechip in!" they both exclaimed as they received the medieval like sword and came down on Novaman.

"Wide sword!" he called out as he received the weapon and blocked both girls attacks, but within the next second Terra had come down and delivered a low spin kick to Novaman's legs sending him face first on to the ground, giving Whisper enough time to deliver a blow to his back. "I think it's time I bowed out." Novaman said.

"Novaman logging out." The computer voice stated as the darkloid disappeared before Terra could take her strike he sword only hit the tile floor.

"Did you get him?" Chaud asked when the boys heard Novaman log out.

"No." Terra said as she and Whisper jumped over the 2nd floor railing, landing gracefully on the floor before the DA collapsed. "We lost him. He voluntarily logged out, Novaman's always been a coward."

"Yeah, lost maybe, but not forgotten," Whisper said as she took Terra's PET from her.

"Why what did you do?" Terra asked as she looked at her friend.

"I put a tracer on him." Whisper said as she pulled up a map of the net and a blip began to appear on the screen.

"When did you do that?" Proto asked as he glanced over Whisper's shoulder.

"When I struck him," Whisper replied, " I incorporated the tracer data into my Kightsword, now our friend Novaman has our tracer's data flowing through his body."

"Impressive." Mega commented.

"Mupmph, what can I say? Like netoperator, like netnavi." Whisper said as she smiled at her op.

Terra returned the gesture, knowing that there was a reason for their likeness and it wasn't complementary programming.

* * *

"This is impressive, Whisper good work." The chief said as he looked at the now still blip that was still on Terra's screen, the gang had returned to Scilab. "Since all the darkloids that have surfaced have been upgraded we know that Regal's probably stayed in one place, and if these are the coordinates are for his operation this could lead us right to him, we could shut him down. We've been waiting for a chance like this to come around and it finally has, We need you to go after him before Regal finds the tracer."

Terra's eyes widened, "Go after him! But that's SUICIDE and you know it!" Terra exclaimed. "The only way we could do that is to send Whisper, Mega, and Proto in alone and that's crazy. I mean they're good battlers, but not good enough to be three against thirty."

"Yeah, I would have to agree with Terra." Lan and Chaud said together.

"We know," Keifer replied, " and were not expecting you to battle, just to find Regal's hideout and your navis won't be going in alone."

"What do you mean?" Terra asked.

"He means this." Whisper said as she wrapped her arms around Terra and Mega and Proto doing the same to their ops. Within seconds Terra could feel a tingling sensation coming over her body and her vision began to blur, when it cleared all she could see was blue.

"We're in the net?" Lan asked as he took in his surroundings.

"Well, where did you think you were, Siberia?" Mega asked.

"Ha ha, very funny. No I thought I was in Malibu, Hub." Lan replied.

"Hub? Who's Hub?" The chief asked through a window that appeared.

"Hahahaha, Hub? no I meant Mega, I'm just so drained from today, I just meant that this was a nice computer hub." Lan replied with a smile covering for his fluke. Hopeful the chief wouldn't think anything of it, he didn't even know he had a brother and hopefully that's the way it would stay.

"So all of you were in on this?" Chaud asked asking the navis as well as the chief.

"Whisper did most of the work but we all kept it a secret." Proto replied.

"How'd you figure out how to do this?" Terra asked Whisper. It was all too strange, made even strager because she, Lan, and Chaud were still in their street chlothes. At least when Regal had done it he had used their navi's data as an overlay.

"Well, I've been working on this for the past few weeks with Dr. Hikari. When all of this happened the first time, some information flashed across the PET, turns out it was the program that Regal used to convert flesh and blood into data, but when I pulled it up it was all encrypted and half the program had been lost, so Dr. H helped me out and we completed the program together."

"Wow, impressive." Terra commented.

"Well, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise, I mean you're not the only talented person in the family." Whisper replied.

For a second, Terra couldn't breath, "Family? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Terra I'm your friend, and I know I'm your netnavi; but I thought you considered me part of your family."

"I do! You are!" Terra quickly said. "I guess there must be something in the water because I'm getting pretty scatter brained too."

"Anyway," Whisper said trying to ignore her op's sudden strange behavior. "I'm surprised you didn't try to figure this out, I thought you loved a good mystery."

"I know but I thought this one would be best left unsolved. I thought that it would be too risky. I mean the law of the net is a lot different than the real world. In here it is do or die, defeat or be deleted. And unlike you, you can't program a human to be rebuilt. If Lan, Chaud, or me get deleted in here, we're dead, at least in the real word there is a chance of survival as small and minuscule as it may be, it is still there. In here it's so cut and dry."

"Terra, no one expects you to go on a suicide mission, all six of you know that if things get too hot and too hairy for you, to get out. You dying wouldn't serve any good; the enemy would win, so you might as well retreat. At least then you can stop them later." Keifer said.

"I know sir," Terra replied, "But that's not really what has me worried."

"What was it then?" Chaud asked.

"Regal," Terra replied. " I mean this was his program and his idea, he knows more about it than any of us do and ever will. What if he has a way to be able to trap us in the net? Then we'd really be screwed, besides is constantly converting matter into energy healthy?"

"You can rest assured Terra, that we wouldn't do this if it wasn't safe." Dr. Hikari said as he came to stand beside the chief. "We've tested this over and over, and so far there's no side affects. It was the same thing with cross fusion when it first came on the scene and I'm keeping an eye on everything, so don't worry. And as for Regal being able to trap you in the net, that's impossible, the only way that could be done is if he totally shut down a server and that's not possible, the net is totally intertwined and interdependent. If you shut one part of it down, the whole thing comes with it."

"And that's a good thing? Sounds to me more like a hazard." Terra said.

"Actually it is the safest protection policy all the net organizations agree on. If someone wants to destroy a part of the net they end up destroying their organization along with it. It might seem a bit unorthodox, but it works." Keifer said.

"This was decided after Grave?" Lan asked.

"Exactly," His father replied. "That is why the net Mafias' are trying to control the net now, not destroy it. So Terra have I set your mind at ease enough to have your permission to move forward?" Dr. Hikari asked.

"Not that you need it, but yeah." Terra replied. "All in all, I think I'm just nervous. We are on a new frontier and I guess it scared me a little, it's kinda like when I crossfusioned for the first time."

"Well, it's not like we were totally prepared for this either," Chaud said, "But we'll get the hang of it soon enough and knowing you, you'll get a grip on it before anyone else, maybe not me but Lan anyway."

"Hey!" Lan exclaimed.

"Thanks." Terra replied.

"Good, now that everyones' minds are at ease, Chaud, Lan, Terra, Whisper, Protoman, and Megaman, you have a job to do. I need you to check out the coordinates and see if they are valid and get out. Don't dawdle, we don't have much time." The chief added and cut off communication.

"Well, you heard the man, lets get to work." Proto said.

"And we will, but there's some business that we need to take care of first." Whisper said as she tossed something to her op as well as Chaud and Lan.

"What's this?" Terra asked as she looked over program. It was so weird seeing what one looked like from this side.

"Dr. Hikari's latest creation." Whisper replied. "Since you guys can acess the net now, it's time you have your own alter egos. It's not like we want to be obvious that we've crack Regal's program. And even though he's probably smart enough to figure it out, he's not who we're going up against, it's darkloids and they're not all that bright." Whisper said.

"Oh I see what you're getting at." Terra replied, "Make them think that there's twice the threat out there."

"Exactly." Whisper replied.

"That's a very sly plan." Chaud said.

"So how do these things work exactly?" Lan asked.

"Just open the program and whatever you think of in changing your appearance the program will do it. It won't change your DNA though, it just acts like a high tech mask." Whisper added when Lan looked slightly stressed. "All this is going to do is give you guys a navi ID of your own, you can even create your own defaults. And your navi signatures have been entered into the PET's memory so you'll have acess to the chip library too. The only downside is that when activated it negates crossfusion. So that's something we're all going to have to keep in mind. If you use the ID to jack-in and you get logged out you'll come back to reality, think _Code Lyoko._"

"What if we use it in a dimentional area?" Chaud asked.

"Well since we'd already be in the real world there wouldn't be any reason to become a navi, so it'll behave like a double-soul." Whisper replied.

"So the program adapts to whatever enviroment it's used in?" Terra questioned.

"Yep." Whisper replied. "Pretty nifty huh?"

"I'll say." Lan replied as he opened the program and Terra and Chaud fillowing suit.

Terra was the first to complete the program, when it terminated her suit had changed from purple to a glossy navy blue with metallic silver diagonal stripes in no particular order that crisscrossed each other on her top and skirt piece and the shades changed colors as well to match from a clear purple to a transparent navy blue. Her hair had changed too from being long and jet black with purple highlights to being blue-black. It was cut short to her shoulders where the hair had received a diagonal slice and it now grazed over her chest for a few inches. Her hair also had dark blue streaks running through it. And last but not least her eyes had changed from their neon green to a cooler amethysts to set her off, her symbol also had changed from the swirl to a blue starburst that was shaped by a fading silver outline.

Chaud was the next to finish. His purple and black red vested suite had been changed to a steel gray body suit with dual dark gray racing stripes, boot and gloves. The boots and gloves had a red wine trapezoid on them; he also had red wine body armor on the thighs and forms as well as his shoulders. The black angular visor was switched out for a red wine pair and were now rectangular. Chaud's emblem was changed too from the lightning strike to a horizontal heartbeat with one half being wine red and the other being dark gray. And lastly his dual colored hair was now purely jet-black.

Lan was the last to finish and had to most drastic change in appearance. His brown hair and eyes has been changed to red hair that fell over his now slate eyes. The body suit was now black with cobalt racing stripe and timberwolf gray boots and gloves that had a cobalt trapezoid on them. His symbol while not totally changed had a slight difference from his brothers. The emblem looked as though it had been given a 45 degree angle turn and instead of the diagonal line connecting the two triangles it was a diagonal heartbeat and the emblem was now red orange instead of pure orange. When it was all over everyone just stared at Lan.

"What?" he asked when all the attention became slightly uncomfortable.

"Red hair?" everyone asked together.

"Well it had to be something else than brown and it definitely couldn't be black and I was not going to make it blond." Lan said defending himself.

"OK, guys we've had our laughs, now we really need to get to work." Proto said.

"So where are we headed?" Chaud asked.

"Due north." Whisper said as she checked the net map that was now displayed on the inside of her shades and opened a link to leave Scilab's net area.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Whisper asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Terra replied as she watched her friend step into the link from behind.

"Watch your step." Mega said as Lan began to enter the link.

"Why? WHOA!" Lan exclaimed when his foot hit the link and he found that it was a directory link and that Whisper had set the coordinates to Novaman's location and that the floor moved its self. He ended up tripping and falling into Chaud knocking him down. When Terra saw the incident she had to put her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing.

"Thanks Hikari," Chaud said as he carefully got back to his feet.

"Told you to watch your step." Mega said as she helped Lan to his feet.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Lan asked. He could tell that Hub was enjoying seeing his inexperience in the net.

"Yeah, I would have to say that I am." Mega replied.

As the gang continued down the link Terra, Chaud and Lan couldn't help but notice that the net was literally another world. A complete duplicate of the real one, but as they continued the net seemed to get darker and evil almost seemed to fill the air.

"Ok, get ready the exit link is coming up." Whisper said, "And be on your toes we'll be right on top of Novaman.

"Where?" Terra asked, she couldn't see the link.

"There," Whisper said as she pointed to what looked like a vertical drop in the floor."

"You expect me to jump into that?" Terra asked.

"That's the plan. If you can find another way to get there be my guess. Believe me I checked." Whisper said as she turned to face Terra and within the next second letting herself drop through the link leaving Terra and everyone else to follow. When everyone reached the other end, each navi stuck their landing, Lan, Terra and Chaud on the other hand were a different story, they sorta fell in.

"Ok, I seriously have a new respect for you guys, how do you do that?" Terra asked as she picked her self off the floor.

"With a lot of practice believe me." Mega replied.

"Guys remember the plan, we get in and get out. If Keifer's right and this is Regal's place and the darkloids are here e don't have the fire power to run into all these guys, especially on their home court." Proto said.

"Don't worry I'm not planning on having a tea party." Whisper added as she continued to refine Novaman's signal.

"Where exactly are we?" Lan asked as he observed the darkened net space.

"Warehouse district." Mega relied; he had activated a scopeblaster and used to look through the system to the other side. "This must be one of the warehouse's net space.

"An abandoned warehouse? You'd think that Regal could at least make it interesting." Proto commented.

"He may have, give me a boost will you?" Whisper asked motioning Proto, she had pin pointed Novaman's signal and it was coming from one of the rooms only problem was it had a high window. "Novaman's signal is coming from this room."

_"Sure have Protoman give you the lift."_ Terra said through the link just before Protoman lifted Whisper into the air.

_"Shut up."_ Whisper mentally shot back as Proto lifted her into the air, then she thought of something that would render Terra speechless.

_"For your information I did want Proto to lift me. I wanted him to look up my skirt"_ Whisper waited for Terra's reply but she received none. Her plan had worked like a charm. "Whoa," she breathed as she looked through the window and watched fluorescent data swirl around a number of darkloids, when she saw it start to pulse, glitter and dim she saw a problem. "Oh, no," she said again this time so low no one could hear it. "Ok Proto you can let me down now." She added when she thought she had seen all she needed to.

"What did you see?" Proto asked.

"There is some major upgrading going on in there. I saw at least 10 darkloids in that room including Novaman. Their data is being switched out and replaced, except for the A1 program they're being totally rebuilt. But that's not the bad thing."

"Then what is?" Chaud asked, he thought what he heard had been bad enough.

"Regal's using our data and energy to give them the makeover." Whisper replied.

"Are you sure?" Lan asked.

"I'm positive, I'd recognize our data signature's anywhere. It's ours."

"You mean our life force is flowing through their bodies? That's why Regal wanted it?" Proto asked.

"Seams like it." Whisper replied. "I guess he knew where he could find good building material and he went shopping."

While Whisper and Proto and the other's were talking Lan went over to the window activated a pair of air shoes and glanced in the window. As he did so he wondered why Whisper hadn't done the same thing, but this investigation proved to be short lived.

"Whoa, she's right." Lan thought as he saw all the darkloids in the containment fields, their eyes and bodies seemed to glow and pulse as the data flowed through them almost making it seem like the data was alive it's self. "This is getting seriously bad."

* * *

Elsewhere…

"Master sir, we have guests here." a voice uttered in the darkness.

"Excellent, are they the ones we've been expecting?" Regal asked.

"I recognize Protoman, Megaman and that new navi Whisper but I've never seen the other three. Should I go ahead as planned?"

"Proceed," Regal replied, "I have a feeling all are in attendance anyway."

"Yes master." The darkloid replied as it disappeared in a shower of pixels.

Regal smiled as his minion left his presence those netsavers had unknowingly walked right into his hand and he was fully prepared to set the second phase of his plan in motion. Oh the fun he was going to have.

TBC


	3. Hidden Snare

Chapter 3

Hidden Snare

"Come on, lets get out of here before someone comes. We've been fortunate so far but I don't think we need to push it." Chaud whispered as he motioned back to the open link. But before anyone could move toward it the link suddenly exploded, sending all the netsavers to the ground.

"You know, you Blaze's are always so perceptive, too bad you're always about ten seconds too late. Neon Lights!"

All six netsavers split to avoid the attack.

"Flashman! What are you doing here?" Protoman demanded drawing his sword.

"I live here. And not only have you breached our security, but your trespassing. Neon lights!" He said as he sent another attack the red clad navi's way. Proto effortlessly leaped over the crackling energy and delivered a blow with his sword.

"I wouldn't really call it trespassing, when you don't own the building."

"Oh toushay, Proto boy." Flashman said as he seemed to effortlessly pick up Protoman and sling him across the room sending him into the wall.

"Protoman!" Chaud exclaimed as he saw his navi hit the wall. "Cybersword battlechip in!" He exclaimed, as he was the next to make advance on Flashman. When he brought the sword down, Flashman caught it with his armor.

"Revengeful and vindictive, impressive, what's your name kid?" Flashman asked. "I don't think we have had the pleasure of meeting."

"Quicksilver," Chaud replied as his sword turned from neon purple and orange to a gleaming silver and he broke loose. "And you're going to pay for that!" He said as he swung his sword again only to have Flashman catch it again with ridiculous ease.

"You have spunk kid. It's too bad you're on the wrong side." Flashman said as he channeled energy from him into the sword and into Chaud.

"AGGHH." Chaud groaned as the electricity flooded his body. Chaud's friends looked on in horror, but they didn't have time to be paralyzed.

"Goodbye kid." Flashman said as he brought up his hand forming a charged shot. "It was nice knowing you. Neon ligh-" He started but…

"Charge shot!" Four voices rang out as four beams of charge plasma sliced through the air, all slamming into Flashman head on making him release Chaud and sending him across the room causing him to slam violently into the far wall. "Flashman deleted."

"Well, that was short and sweet." Terra commented.

"Chaud are you okay?" Lan asked as he rushed over to his friend, leaving Whisper, Mega and Terra to check on Protoman.

"Yeah I am now." Chaud replied when Lan gave him a HP recovery chip returning his strength, "Is Proto going to be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine." Proto replied as he walked over, "He just really knocked the wind outta me, Regal must have given him some work up. Flashman's never been that strong before. Where is he?" Proto asked as he lifted Chaud off the floor.

"Deleted." Chaud replied, "But it took almost everything we had. Regal's not playing with us anymore." He continued as he was helped to his feet by his navi.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that." A voice stated as a figure rose from the smoke where Flashman once was. "The games have just begun." When the figure came into view, it was revealed as Vidoman.

"Vidoman! Where did you-," Mega stated, "Flashman was never here was he?" he asked buster drawn.

"Of course not," Vidoman replied, "I'm a creative navi, with a simple boost from the supreme master, I'm able to copy and assimilate the identity of any navi along with their powers and multiply them tenfold."

"Supreme Master? You're a real suck-up, you know that?" Terra said. "Not to mention a braggart."

Vidoman turned his attention to Terra. "Now I don't think that we've met either. What's your name?" He said and walked over eyeing the new girl, parting the team as he did. Chaud eyed his friend with slight concern, as Vidoman seemed to single her out but Terra wasn't worried in the least.

"Electra." Terra replied as her hair seemed to raise in the air like static was forming around her, "Ground Lightning!" she exclaimed as the energy shot up from the floor, coursing its way through Vidoman's body and throwing him twenty feet away.

"Wow the little diva got spunk, but you won't for long," Vidoman exclaimed as he got back to his feet. "windcutter." He exclaimed as the film between his hands shot out toward Terra.

"Don't think so, custom sword!" Lan exclaimed as he stepped in front of Terra, knocking the film off course.

"Seems the net police have been doing some major recruiting haven't they. So what's your name kid?"

"Speed." Lan replied.

"Well Speed, you're about to receive a major cut in velocity, windcutter!" Vidoman exclaimed sending the tape a second time. As it came toward him Lan did not move an inch and, cocking his eyebrows the called out "Vibration!" after which he seemed to fizzle and when the film passed through his body, bring his blade back around he struck the windcutter and shredded the tape into confetti.

Vidoman looked on at a loss at his ruined offense. "How…did…you…do…that?" he demanded, "no one should have been able to tear through those defenses especially not a pipsqueak like you!"

"Let's just say I'm stronger than I look." Lan commented, "not to mention that I can vibrate my molecules through solid objects, that helps." Lan finished as he looked casually at his nails.

By now Videoman was VERY agitated, "Ok that's it no more mister nice guy! Stunt double!" he exclaimed activating his projector and a second Videoman appeared behind the group.

"Wow he really is egotistic." Whisper said.

"Ok brat it's time for you to learn to respect your elders, winedcutter!" Videoman called out as the double attacked.

"Aqua sword battlechip in! You know what Videoman I think I skipped that class." Whisper called out holding off the attack forcing the double back. When she went in for a defensive strike Videoman sidestepped her causing her to barely miss him.

"You know what young peoples' problems are? They have absolutely no fear today, I mean look at the entertainment you watch filled with sex and violence you've become immune."

"You know that's your own fault VM," Whisper replied, "After all you help make the bad entertainment, but it just so happens I'm a sheltered girl. But really what to I have to respect? Except for Bubbleman you're the second biggest excuse for a darkloid I've ever seen, not to mention you're nothing more than a trick of light."

A sly smile slipped across VM's lips reveling his green teeth. "Oh but dear I can change that." He said as he began to morph into someone, his body twisting and pulling until he came into his new form. Savageman's form to be exact.

Whisper's face faulted, she had always been a little afraid of Savageman but she thought that that was a bit of information that she had managed to keep to herself. Whisper began to back away out of fear, she couldn't help it.

"It's time I teach you some manners," VM said now in Savageman's voice.

Whisper held her sword as steady as she could ready to defend herself from the coming attack trying to calm herself down. At that second she saw a fluid motion of red come behind her, she relaxed, everything was going to be all right.

"It's time for your education dear," VM said as he charged at her.

"And again I don't think so," Whisper said as she sprang into the air reveling non-other that Protoman behind her.

"It's time to go back into your cage." Proto swiftly said, "Maurassa battlechip in!" he called as the received the fuchsia sword cutting into Videoman's hand which was now Savageman's claws. Slicing the weaker head on. Once the sword made contact and sensed the evil it shattered it instantly.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" the double groaned as he reverted back into his original form. "This isn't over yet!" it exclaimed as it powered it's projector and began to create an image of someone.

"Oh no you don't" Whisper said as she slashed the image from behind before it had the chance to materialize.

"Ohh, you're going to pay for that ghost girl!" VM yelled as he made another projection that appeared above her this time.

"AHHHHH," the image exclaimed as it came down to her twisting and turning as it came until it finally morphed into Protoman's image.

"Barrier, battlechip in!" Whisper exclaimed throwing her arms up forming the shield over her causing the clone to slam into the forefield instantly deleting it. "My name's Whisper camera boy, and you're going to have to do a whole lot better than that to do me any damage."

"And I would have to agree with her, long sword!" Terra's voice called out as a swift slash came across the double's projector. As the Videoman's doppelganger phased out Terra appeared.

"Give it up Videoman!" Lan exclaimed as he slammed the darkloid to the ground.

"Yeah, you're at the end of your rope." Mega added.

But Videoman didn't say anything in reply, he only stared.

"My beautiful masterpiece," he seamed to say at a loss. "You…never…destroy an artist's finest work!" Videoman suddenly exclaimed activating his dark aura throwing Lan and Mega off him. "Now you will all feel my wrath!" he yelled, "You'll all pay! Set cast!" he called out as his projector went into overdrive creating seven Videomen.

"Great." Chaud commented when they regrouped totally surrounded by the darkloids.

"I've played around with your whelps long enough, it's over, set flash!" VM exclaimed along with his seven clones.

"We're not giving up that easily," Proto stated as he watched the energy coming steadily coming toward them, "Fire tower battlechip in!" he said slamming his palm to the floor.

"Fire tower battlechip in, Salamander battlechip in," Whisper, Mega, Lan, Chaud, and Terra exclaimed following Protoman's lead.

When the two energies met they seamed to act like oil and water, one flowing over the other, the set flash hitting the netsavers and the fire towers and the salamanders impacting the darkloids…

"Videoman deleted." the computer voice stated as the six teens slammed into the ground.

"What was that?" Lan asked when he got back to his feet, "that didn't do a thing."

_Little did he know, or any of them…_

"I have no idea," Mega replied, "But I do know we need to get out of here and report this back to the chief, although I don't know the good it do since Regal'll know we were here."

"What is it?" Chaud asked when he found Terra still staring at the door.

"All this noise and commotion and none of these darkloids woke up? You know we shouldn't even be having this conversation right?" Terra replied.

"Soundproof room," Proto suddenly commented as he analyzed the cyber material, "an atomic bomb could go off and they wouldn't hear it."

"Fortunate us." Whisper replied.

"And I wouldn't push it." Mega added opening the link. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

"Videoman did you complete your mission?" Regal asked an ominous voice.

"Yes master I think you'll be quite pleased." Videoman replied as he gazed at the six unconscious teenagers that were now laying on the floor of warehouse, the one in the real world. His set flash had knocked Lan, Terra and Chaud out of their navi personas making them human again. The darkloid also took notice that the children's PET's were strone around them as well, the simple handhelds had caused his kind so much greif; giving these so-called heroes a conduit into their world. His attention then turned to the three navis, how easy it would be to destroy them now by simply crushing the PETs underneath his feet but Regal had something else in store. "Their minds are totally under your control."

"Excellent now bring them to me." Regal demanded.

"As you wish masher, as you wish," VM replied as he started to pick them up one by one. But as he picked Terra off the ground something sliped off her neck and droped to the floor making a metallic sound as it did but one that VM didn't hear.

Her locket.

* * *

Regal watched as VM brought the net savers in, each one laying limp in his arms, it would be so easy to destroy them now but what fun would that be? He wanted to make them suffer. No he had a different kind of torture in mind and it wasn't physical, it was mental.

TBC


	4. Mental Prisoner

Chapter 4

Mental Prisoner

"UUUUUUUHAAAAA," Terra shuttered as she and the others materialized back at headquarters. "I swear I will never get use to that."

"What's so weird about it?" Whisper asked.

"If you're wondering if it's the fact that my flesh and blood just got converted into inorganic matter that's not what I find creepy. As strange as that is by the way. It's the way it feels when you undergo the conversion. How do I explain it?" Terra asked suddenly at a loss for words.

"You mean that creepy crawly tingly feeling that slowly crawls over your entire body feeling like a million spiders are creping over you?" Lan asked.

"Exactly, that's what it feels like." Terra replied a twitch.

"You know Lan with the way you explain things someone might think that you need deep psychological help." Proto remarked.

"Well it's not my fault I have an overactive imagination it's his," Lan said pointing to his brother. "Everything I've got I've got from him."

"Mega, goody to shoes, Mega? Always knows the right thing to say, never overreacts Mega?" Proto asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah," Lan replied, "you may never think that he's majorly mature but that's all a façade that hasn't come off yet. But believe me underneath he's my dark devious twin. So if you ever thought that I was the evil one think again. If you think I'm bad he's me times 10."

"Now that's hard to believe." Chaud said, although he remembered the couple of stories he had heard from their childhood; he still couldn't believe that Mega was the mastermind even if that was years ago.

"Yeah well I believe it." Terra said getting up from her chair official report in hand. She had got stuck with the assignment of writing it. Terra looked into Mega's eyes for a second. As she glanced into his them she could see that the pranksters spark that had lay dormant for so many years, buried by confusion and responsibility was slowly starting to resurface, and once it did it would match the one that Lan already portrayed. Only it would be way worse sine there would be brains behind it. Hikari brains at that. "Here you go all i's dotted and t's crossed, it's ready for the chiefs inspection and explosion." Terra said as she handed Chaud the report.

"Why do I always have to turn it in?" Chaud asked taking the file.

"Because he respects you more, you're his favorite, that's why." Terra replied, "and he's less prone to lose it with you."

"Fine," Chaud replied as he headed down the hall, to his relief that chief was out and all he had to do was leave the report at the door.

"Well that was fast." Whisper said when he came back to the lobby.

"The chiefs out, I just left the file on his door." Chaud replied.

"Well then now that that's done lets get out of here, if I hurry Maylu and I can still catch the last bus to Tokyo." Terra said getting up to leave.

"And just what are suppose to do?" Lan asked.

"I don't know but it's Saturday, there should be something. Lan why don't you and Chaud do something together? I know your like water and oil but I'm sure you can get past your differences and give your friendship a little more backbone. Anyway I'll see you guys later." Terra replied as she turned down 10th street leaving Lan and Chaud alone.

"So what exactly are your plans for today?" Lan asked, "If you're not busy we could go the skate park."

"Sounds like fun, but I'll pass, my dad faxed me some papers to look over yesterday and I have to get that done, thanks for the invite though maybe some other time." Chaud replied as his car pulled up and he got in, "You need a lift?" he asked.

'No thanks I'll just skate." Lan replied popping his wheels out.

"Ok see ya then." Chaud replied as the car left.

"Race ya home." Lan said as he sensed his brother materialize beside him.

"You're on." Mega replied.

* * *

"Come on Terra hurry up if we don't make it to Maylu's in 20 minutes we'll miss the bus." Whisper called over she shoulder urging her op to skate faster.

"Well sorry but unlike you I get tired quicker." Terra replied as she tried to keep up with Whisper.

"You want a piggyback ride?" Whisper asked as she doubled back and came up beside her friend.

"No thanks I'd rather lose all feeling in my legs." Terra replied as she pushed on, "Hey isn't that the chief?" she asked as she pointed to a man ahead if them.

'Yeah it is, hey Chief Keifer." Whisper called out to the man as he turned around.

"Hello Whisper it's good to see you, I take it that the mission went well?" he asked.

"Well I wouldn't say it went bad," Terra said when she caught up with her navi, "we hit a few snags but everything went okay, its all in the report, we left it on your door back at headquarters."

"Good, I'll go and review it then," the chief replied, "enjoy your Sunday girls." He said as he walked away.

"Did he just say Sunday?" Terra asked when she and Whisper continued on their way, "it's Saturday."

"Yeah he did." Whisper replied a little surprised, the chief was the most put together guy she knew next to Chaud and Protoman, "but its no big deal he's probably just tired."

"Yeah, I can relate to that." Terra added.

* * *

"Ha I win!" Lan exclaimed as he skidded to a halt in front of his house.

"That's only because you cut through 4th street Mega replied as he stopped behind him.

"Hey the rules weren't laid out." Lan said as she opened the door. "Mom we're home!" he called out.

"Hi sweetie how did practice go?" she asked as she leaned out of the kitchen.

"It went." Lan replied, thinking it was best to leave the net adventure to himself.

"Ok you have a good day." She said as she kissed Lan on the forehead, "oh hi Mega," she said shortly before returning to the kitchen.

Lan cocked his eyebrows at this. "That was weird." He said when his mom disappeared into the kitchen.

"Yeah it was," Mega added.

* * *

"Good morning master Blaze," Chaud's butler addressed as he came through the door. "I guess you had a good practice?"

"It went well thank you Miles," Chaud replied as he headed his office upstairs to finish looking over the papers his farther had sent. When he opened the door he was met with a surprise.

"Dad?" Chaud asked when he saw the man he barely knew standing in his office.

"Oh it's good to see you son, you've done great work so far with the company, keep it up." His father replied.

"What are you doing here, shouldn't you still be in the states?" Chaud asked.

"Chaud that business trip ended weeks ago, I was due back home today you know that."

"No I don't, sure the last trip was over two weeks ago but you sent me an e-mail saying you found a small company that was looking to merge and that negations would take another two months. You faxed me the papers to look over yesterday."

"Chaud that company was a dead end." His father replied seeming to try to cover over the situation.

"So I did all that work for nothing?" Chaud asked.

"No Chaud, I never sent you those papers, the papers I sent you were from a company right here in Dentech, they sent me their proposition while I was still in New York, here look for your self." His father said handing him the papers he had been working on.

Chaud looked over the documents, although they were filled with his handwriting and his thoughts they weren't his, he hadn't seen these papers before. He could remember that the papers that he had been working on were from a company in Chicago, not Dentech, Japan. Something was wrong. "Oh I guess you're right, I must have been really tired yesterday."

"Well you have been working hard it's an honest mistake, but you still have a lot of work to do so get to it." His father said as he left the room.

Chaud could only stare at the door when his father left, this was the first time the thought had ever come to his mind. 'Since when dose a man allow his 14 year old son to be the vice president of a multi billion dollar company?'

"Theses aren't the documents you were working on yesterday." Proto said as he materialized taking the memo's from Chaud's hand. "And your dad's not due back for another two months."

"I know," Chaud replied.

* * *

As Terra and Whisper made their way down Maylu's street she caught sight of Maylu and Roll sitting on their front steps book in hand. (Lan had scored Maylu a PET III )

"Hey," Terra said as she ran up the walk, "I know we're late but if we hurry we can still catch the last bus to Tokyo."

"Huh?" Maylu asked thoroughly confused.

"You know the shopping spree in Tokyo? You've planned this for weeks, its today." Whisper added.

"I never planned a trip to Tokyo." Maylu replied.

"Are you sure because it's all you've been able to talk about for the past few days." Terra said.

"Yeah, I think I'd remember planning something like that." Maylu replied.

"And I can vouch for her," Roll added, "I just looked over her schedule and she has nothing planned for today."

"Ok I guess I must have dreamed it then." Terra said as she backed away felling like a total idiot. "I guess I'll se ya later?"

"Sure," Maylu replied getting back to her book.

"Ok, I know for a fact that you didn't dream that. The only dreams you've had for the past three weeks have been nightmares. So what's going on? Maylu would never have forgotten about that trip. She saved three years worth of baby sitting money just so she could go. What's going on?"

"I have no clue…" Terra started to say when she noticed something. The trees that liked the street seemed to fade. No that wasn't right, they seemed like they had static. But was soon as it started it stopped.

"What is it?" Whisper asked as Terra's voice drifted off.

"We need to get out of here." Terra said abruptly as she began talking again.

"What why?" Whisper asked as she snagged Terra's arm.

"That's why." Terra said pointing across the street as some of the pedestrians seamed to flicker and fade.

"What is that?" Whisper asked.

* * *

Lan drifted off in thought as he stood on his balcony outside his room. He knew he probably shouldn't make a big deal out of it but he couldn't get it out of his head. Something weird was going on. Ever since he had found out the truth his mom had treated he and his brother like she did when they were little. It was almost like someone had pressed a pause button on their lives and pressed play again, but now she had just acted like Mega was just some common netnavi. But that wasn't right. Lan's mom was like him, she saw netnavis like he did. Like other people. Now it seemed like she just saw them as many people did, just data. She had treated Hub like that, some common object, no her son.

"Hey what wrong you look a little lost?" Mega asked as he came up beside him..

"I am," Lan replied, "I just keep thinking about how strange mom acted, she hasn't called you Mega since the day I found out."

'Well maybe it was a fluke."

"That was no fluke, I mean yeah she's capable of one but that would involve calling you Mega. It's not like she just slipped up. She meant to say that. And she didn't call you Mega the way she calls you Hub, she was passive when she said that. And if it's one thing mom's never been it's passive. She's never been passive to anyone human or navi."

Mega began to see his point, then he noticed something. "You're probably right, but since when have you been so calculating? And don't tell me that after all this time the family genes are starting to kick in."

"I doubt it," Lan replied, "you're just beginning to rub off on me."

"So what do you think is going on? You think Regal's involved?"

"I don't know but I don't think that this is a coincidence. Regal has to be planning something. He's been quite for a while, the darkloid attacks have been few and far between and he's already told us that it wasn't over then all of a sudden something off the wall happens. Everything has his signature and if is him, whatever he's planning he's being really cautious about it. Come on." Lan said as he walked back into his room and boded Mega to come with him.

"What are you doing?" Mega asked as he followed his brother down the stairs.

"Seeing for sure if this was a fluke or not. Kiefer told us that we always needed to be watchful, that Regal could attack anywhere at anytime, but I want to be sure something's up for sure before I say anything."

"So what am I suppose to do?" Mega asked.

"Just be yourself," Lan replied as he shoved him back in the kitchen.

Mega was at a loss at what to say so he just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey Mom, whatcha doing?" Mega asked as he walked up beside her.

"I'm cooking," she replied slowly looking at Mega like he had lost his mind, "since when did you start calling me Mom?" she asked.

"Probably since I was about two years old, after all I am your son," this statement just made her look at him all the stranger. "You know your son, Lan older twin, I died at six from HBD, Dad saved my life by trapping my mind on the net, turned me into a netnavi, gave me to Lan three years ago, he just found out the truth, any of this ringing a bell?" Mega asked.

Slowly a smile came across his mother's face. "Oh you kids and your imagination," she said as she ruffled Mega's hair and speaking to him like he was three in a singsongy tone, "go find Lan I'm pretty sure he needs you," she said as she dismissed him."

"Ok that was the weirdest experience I've ever had." Mega said as she came back into the hall. "You're right something is off."

"Lan could you come here for a second?" Lan's mother said as she called him.

"Sure what is it?" Lan asked as he came in.

"Oh I just wanted to tell you that you might want your dad to check Megaman over, I think he might have a virus. He thinks I'm his mother. It was cute at first but then it got a little disturbing."

"Oh don't worry I'll get him checked out," Lan said as he left, "Oh yeah there is defiantly something wrong with her, she wants to get you checked."

"What are we going to do." Mega asked.

"I don't know…" Lan replied as he drifted off when he PET went off.

"It's an e-mail from Chaud, he wants us to meet him at his house." Mega said.

"Well than let's get out of here I'm starting to get the creeps." Lan replied.

* * *

"Regal." Terra answered as she watched some of the people continue to flicker and fade and then it was over.

"Terra?" Whisper asked her in a shaky voice.

"What?" Terra asked.

"Look." Whisper replied pointing to Terra's arm.

When Terra raised her arm and looked she could practically see through her arm as it began to phase in and out. "OMG" she breathed when it finally stopped.

"We need to get to headquarters." Whisper said as she began to walk away.

"No," Terra said suddenly as she grabbed her arm. "Have you ever seen people phase before? Something's not right here, something's wrong I don't think going to Scilab will help."

"Well where are we suppose to go?"

"Chaud's probably our best bet, we can call Mega and Lan from there see if it's not just us."

When Terra and Whisper arrived at the Blaze mansion they rang the bell and patiently waited for the door to be answered. When the door was opened Terra was met with an unexpected surprise.

"Why Miss Javedson what a pleasant surprise I haven't seen you in years here to see the young master I gather?" a slightly aged yet kind looking butler asked. When he fully opened the door and took notice of Whisper he suddenly went stark. "Miss Skyler?" the man asked in a shaky voice looking at the navi like he had just seen a ghost.

"Who?" Whisper asked thoroughly confused.

"Miles this is my netnavi Whisper, she look a lot like me I know, but that was my dad's idea." Terra quickly said trying to reassure the man.

"Yes, yes of course. Right this way," Miles replied as he showed them to a set of stairs. "Young Master Blaze's office is on the second floor fourth door to the right."

"Thanks Miles," Terra said as she passed him and started up the stairs.

"What was that about?" Whisper asked.

"I don't know maybe you reminded him of someone he's seen before."

"Terra he called me the same name you've been calling out at night." Whisper replied.

Terra was caught speechless and was only saved when…

"Terra?" a voce asked.

When Terra turned around she was faced with Chaud's father, Mr. Blaze.

"I thought that was you," he said when he got a good look at her. "My you've grown how long has it been 8 years?" he asked.

"Almost nine." She replied.

"Well aren't you a sight to see, you're a young woman now, I hear you've made some major improvement with our PET, I must say I was immensely surprised when I saw Protoman walking around, we could use you in the company."

"Thanks, but I'd rather hold on to my youth for now."

"Oh, that sarcastic sense of humor you know that's get you very far in the business world. Oh look at the time," he said as he checked his watch, but I have a meeting I must attend, nice to see you again Terra." he said as he left.

"He wasn't suppose to be back for another two months wasn't he?" Whisper asked.

"No he wasn't," Terra said as she knocked softly on the door, "hey," she said when she opened the door.

"Oh hey, Chaud said when he looked up from his computer, "I was just about to call you there…" he started.

"Something weird going on," Terra finished, "Yeah we know, have you called Lan?"

"Yeah," Chaud replied, "Hey aren't you suppose be have way to Tokyo by now?"

"Probably would be the operative word, Maylu said that she never planned a trip to Tokyo, and since she's been planning this for the past three months, that pretty much told me that something was up." Whisper said.

"That and the whole world began to flicker." Terra added.

"Flicker?" Proto asked.

"Yeah, like static on a TV screen, not to mention that my arm phased to the point where I could see through it, what tripped you off?" Terra asked.

"Work," Chaud replied as he handed her a stack of papers.

"What are these?" Terra asked again.

"Papers I had to work on that were from a company back in the states."

"But these are from here in Dentech." Whisper commented.

"We know and that's the problem. Plus his dad wasn't suppose to be back for another two months." Proto mentioned, then they heard knocking at the door. "I'll get it," Proto said before anyone moved towards the door, "hey guys," he said when he opened the door and saw it was Lan and Mega.

"You rang?" Lan asked holding up his PET.

"Yeah," Chaud replied, "you haven't noticed anything weird have you?"

"Ha that would be an understatement." Lan replied.

"Why what happened?" Proto asked.

"Our mom was acting really strange, she didn't even know that I was her son." Mega replied.

"Well that seals it, something is up." Proto commented.

"Yeah but what?" Lan asked.

"Whatever it is it started after the battle this morning with Videoman." Whisper brought up.

"Yeah you're right, but everything's wrong, besides the flickers and minuscule details everything's the same." Terra said.

Regal watched as the six made their deliberations.

"Well it seams like it's time to take things up a notch," he said as he pressed a button on his thrown. "Let's see how close your ties actually are."

"But what causing thi…" Mega started when everything in the room began to flicker with static that started to creep and crawl up the walls.

"What is that?" Lan asked as the black and gray matter snaked toward him.

"Regal, who else would it be Lan the Easter bunny?" Whisper stated sharply surprising herself as well as everyone else with her tongue.

"I agree but I don't think we should stick around to see what he has in store for us. We need to get out now!" Chaud exclaimed as he motioned to the door.

"Get out of here to where?" Terra asked as she peered out of the window.

"What do you mean where?" Proto asked.

"Look," Terra replied as she threw up the curtains, when she did everyone saw that there truly was _'nothing' _outside the windows. Everything beyond the grounds if the mansion had disappeared but soon even Chaud's world began to drip and slip away, the room and everything else started to melt into nonexistence. Terra gasped and began to back up as the window and floor began to disappear, but it was no use because the wood floor slinked away faster than she could move. Soon she found nothing under her feet and she began to fall.

"Don't worry I have you." Chaud said as he grabbed hold of Terra's wrist but that wasn't enough soon the whole room vanished right from underneath everyone and they all felt themselves falling, but soon that sensation turned to that of floating and then that stopped all together. It felt like their feet had found solid ground although by looking you couldn't tell, there was nothing there everything was white, or however you could explain nothing.

"Welcome to my humble abode children, I hope you've enjoyed your stay so far." Regal's voice commented as it filled the room surrounding them.

"Regal, so you're the one behind this?" Mega demanded more as a statement than a statement than a question.

"Of course Hub, who else would it be Dr. Wily? However, I must admit that I didn't think you'd catch on so quickly, looks like I didn't know you as well as I thought I did, either that or you're all very observant." Regal answered.

"Please you of all people should know you cant duplicate someone's life and make it seamless, you just like to tease, but since you've made your little introduction what are we here for?" Whisper asked starting to sound like her op.

"To test you of course, I told you six I found you intriguing." Regal replied, "Besides what else would you be here for?"

"You call it a test but all you're doing is playing games with us and I for one am fed up with it let us go!" Lan demanded. Regal was silent and seconds later crackling energy was channeled and coursed its way through Lan's body causing him to crumble to the floor in agony.

"Lam!" Mega exclaimed as he rushed to his younger brother's aid.

"I'm ok," Lan said slowly as he grimaced trying to reassure his brother as he set up.

"You, Lan Hikari, are in no position to be challenging me, I am in total control of you and I can end your life at any moment that I please. So if you don't want to become a member of the living dead like your brother I suggest that you shut up." Regal's voice boomed.

"Shut up?" Chaud asked, "I thought you were more refined.

"That goes for you as well Blaze," Regal replied as he caused Chaud to be smited knocking him to the nonexistent ground.

"Chaud!" Proto exclaimed as he rushed over to his fallen operator, "are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes, Proto," Chaud replied as Proto helped him from the floor, "that was nothing more than a love tap, it was no big deal." Chaud replied telling the half lie, in fact his head was still throbbing. As he looked up at his navi to give him a reassuring expression he saw something flash across his face. He couldn't see his eyes so he couldn't know for sure, but he knew his navi unlike Lan and Terra he and Protoman had been together a lot longer, it looked like concern but that wasn't what he found strange, this look of concern seemed different some how stronger…

"So now, that I have your attention and begrudged respect are you ready to fulfill my test?" Regal asked, "And don't even think of trying to escape, you're in a place where there is none. So what will it be?"

"You already know our answer Regal, its not like we have a choice." Terra said.

"Good decision, I just wanted to hear you say it," Regal replied, "this will be a mental test and not a physical one. Keep in mind that I could have killed you at any time but I find that a physical defeat to be less fulfilling. You can snuff a life out and you only receive a short lived pleasure, but a mental defeat last forever, there's nothing more desirable for a man like me to see my enemies have a mental breakdown and remain forever broken. Your test is in the form of a riddle, listen closely because it will only be said once: In a time none to far from here there souls fell asleep in death only to rise stronger thereafter, two are known one is yet to be found, one is in the light, one in shadow and the other had remained in deep darkness yet to be found. All three are tethered together by one factor one man. Find the answer and be free you can find the answers within yourselves, but use the city's scrolls to solve the puzzle. But be aware there is another soul a 4th to come, but watch yourselves my young warriors that the truth you find not divide you. I'd get to work if I were you." Regal finished as his voice faded way and the city as well as the mansion reappeared, the group found themselves in the courtyard.

"Ok who feels that they've fallen from reality and have landed in _'The Triangle?' _Terra asked, all excluding Chaud and Proto raised their hand.

"Ok now that the fact that we're all completely under Regal's control has been concluded where are we?" Lan asked.

"Trapped," Mega replied as he held up a scopeblaster peering out of the system.

"We know that but…" Lan started when all of a sudden dizziness swept over him causing his head to swim. Once his head stopped spinning and he opened his eyes again he seemed to be in a dream state almost, and he found himself staring at… himself as well as the rest of the group all lying on metal slabs with wires connecting to them all over. As he looked over his unconscious body he soon felt himself being pulled away… "Ugh," Lan groaned as the lightheadedness seamed to take him over causing his knees to give from underneath him leaving Terra to catch him from behind.

"Lan?" Mega asked as he turned around when he sensed his brother drop.

"Don't worry he's ok," Terra said as she saw Lan's eye's slowly start to open, "Lan what happened to…" she started to say when she noticed, Lan and Mega sharing a odd look. "You just saw through Mega's eyes didn't you?" she asked. "Looks like my hypothosis was rite on the money."

"Yeah. Great." Lan choked out still trying to get use to the feeling; it was much more intense than the breif similar experiences he had when he was younger.

"What'd you see?" Proto asked, "How exactly are we under his control?"

"Mentaly." Mega replied, "he has us in a lab somewhere with wires connected all over us. My best guess is that he's completely immersed our consciousnesses in this virtual world."

"So we really are fully under his control?" Whisper said.

"Seams so." Mega replied.

TBC


	5. Netsavers: MIA

Chapter 5

Netsavers: MIA

_Meanwhile at SciLab..._

"How are things looking Dr. Mainstay?" asked Dr. Hikari, the team had just left and Dr. Hikari as a little nervous, after all this was the maiden mission.

"Things are looking good, their vitals and signals are all strong, though their stress levels are a little peaked. But that's to be expected given the situation." This other scientist replied looking at the monitor.

"Good keep your eye on them, since this is a new procedure it needs all the observation it can get."

"Aye, Aye." Dr. Mainstay replied as he turned back to his work as the automatic sliding doors to the lab oened with a WHOOOOH.

"You must be so excited for your first official say." Manuela said as she came through with the chief as well as a teenaged girl.

The girl repled by flashing a bright smile. "What I really can't wait for is to see Lan again, he's not going to beleive it."

"Dr. Hikari I have to commend you, you know how to put together a team. It seems as if everyone of your acquaintance's children are born strong netbattlers, and this child is an absolute treasure, I don't know how you do it." Chief Kiefer commended.

"Well I wouldn't know about calling her a treasure, this one is a little rough around the edges." Dr, Hikari said as he smiled at the brunette, the last child he had helped.

"Oh, Uncle Yuuichiro don't go and give away my secrets!" The girl replied, everyone in the room gave her an odd look. "Pet name, he's not my real uncle, he and my mom were sweethearts in high school, and she just loved those bad boys. _It's just too bad she married one._" She thought to herself.

"So is this the newest addition to the team?" Famous asked referring to the girl as he walked in addressing Manuela and Chief Keifer.

"Well you could ask me, after all I should know." The girl replied, "But to answer your question yes I am."

"Watch yourself Famous you have to be careful with this one." Dr. Hikari warned as the young scientist walked over. "She's a sparkler. Told you she was a sharp one." The scientist said speaking to the chief.

"Speaking of the team where are they? I wanted it to be a surprise when I introduced them to Tasha and Breeze." The chief said.

"They're still out on assignment, they should be back soon." Dr. Hikari replied as he gave Tasha a look over, she had been coming to the lab for weeks getting accustomed to the crossfusion but before that it had been years since he had last seen her last. She was a brunette with slate and beige skin, her hair was long and wavy and fell to the lower part of her back with thick bangs that stopped right above her eyes. Her snarky personality was mirrored by the out fit that she wore. She had on a closefitting long-sleeved black shirt that had continual keyholes down the arms that was worn with light blue denim pleated skirt and calf-high boots. The skirt was accented with a silver onyx studded belt. "I still can't get over just how much you've changed." He commented as she continued to look at Tahsa. "It seems just like yestersay you were in pigtails tormenting Lan."

"Ok now you're acting like I really an your niece and not your adopted one." Tasha replied.

"Well you always have considered him to be your uncle since you don't have one of your own." A new voice sated from behind.

"Yeah I guess I do- Breeze?" Tasha asked as she looked at her PET finding it empty.

"Behind you," the voice said. As Tasha turned around she was shocked to find herself face to face with her netnavi. All she could do was stare. "The installation of the PET III is up and operational." Breeze said.

"Breeze?" Tahsa said as she looked at her navi and let out a choked laugh.

"In the materialized pixel." Breeze replied.

"You, you, you, you never told me that the PET was capable of this." Tahsa stammered as she turned to Dr. Hikari.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, and believe me this PET is capable of a whole lot more." The Dr. replied.

"Yeah all inclining crossfusion, double crossfusion, the materialization program that's running now and a program that controls that conversion of your physical structure." Breeze said with an arch of her eyebrows at the last two words.

"Conversion of my physical structure? Conversion of my physical structure to what?" Tahsa asked.

"Data? Come on Tasha work with me here." Breeze said.

"Data!" Tasha exclaimed, "That's possible?" she asked almost in shock.

"It's possible and that's actually what you're teammates are testing today." Dr. Hikari replied.

"Whoa I have my work cut out for me don't I? I just got the hang of crossfusion before mom and me moved here from Tokyo. Who came up with all of these programs you?" Tasha asked.

"I wish I could take the credit but this isn't my work," Dr. Hikari replied, "it's the work of one of your teammates, Terra Javedson."

Tasha's eyes went wide, "Wow, how old is she?" she asked.

"She's 13 going on 14 same age as you."

"Whoa," Tasha said as she turned to Breeze, she still couldn't bend her head around that fact that she was face to face with her, her job as a netsaver was going to be way more interesting than it had ever been in Tokyo she could feel it. All of the action was going to be right here in Dentech. Breeze was a human netnavi same age and size as her op. She had dark burgundy hair tanned shin and dark gray eyes. Her hair fell over her left eye came to the middle of her back and was strait until it got near to the ends where it became wavy. She had striped her navi look and now had on a formfitting baby blue shirt, dark blue blue-jeans and a black sequin belt. _'One thing's was for sure',_ Tasha thought, _'this is going to be one interesting team, I'm going to be paired with the vice president of Blaze Quest Games and this Terra Javedson who was obviously bright, and Lan, well I'm not worried about Lan.' _All of a sudden Tasha's thoughts and the silence that had formed in the room was broken when the main computers alarm abruptly went off.

"What is that? What's wrong?" Dr. Hikari asked.

"I don't know sir," Dr. Mainstay replied, after clicking in the keyboard for a few seconds all color drained from his face leaving it white, "Oh no, I've just lost the team's signals." He said.

"Lost their signal's what to you mean?" Kiefer demanded.

"Lost their signals', they were just there a second ago and now they're gone." Mainstay replied as he continued to type things into the computer trying to bring the netsavers' signals back up.

"Well try to get them back!" the chief yelled out giving the command.

"Sir I've tried everything," Dr. Mainstay stated swinging around in his chair, "I've lost them.

"Well then there's no time to loose, Famous, Manuela, Tasha, Breeze, you're with me!" the chief exclaimed as he rushed from the room with his assistant and the young scientist following him.

Being caught up in the change of pace and all the commotion Tasha found herself lost until the full precedence of the situation sunk in and she realized that the chief had called for her and her navi to follow him. And Breeze had already changed for the occasion. Breeze's navi form consisted of a jet-black jumpsuit that was layered with an a-symetrical light blue top piece that was made with one sleeve and slanted across her chest leaving her other arm bare except for the sleeve of her jumpsuit. The hem of her top had a diagonal slant down to the right. The top piece also had a black parallelogram that slanted across the front in the same direction. She had a skirt of the same pattern except the parallelogram and the hem slanted to the oposite direction. Her gloves and boots were light blue as well and her crest was dark and light blue with an abstract design made to look like a gusty burst of wind. Tasha was only relased from her stuppor when Breeze grabbed her and before she knew it the truck the flying down the street and into the city.

* * *

Warehouse district, Block X, Suite 16…

"Ok fan out, this is the last place that the signals came from. Cover the entire area and look for anything and everything that can tell us what might have happened; all right people lets move!" the chief bellowed in a thunderous voice, then his voice became calm as he began to address the to girls. "I want you girls to say close by, given the present situation I don't want anything to happen to you too, so be careful."

* * *

"This is impossible." Famous said after the team had searched every inch of the building. "In fact I can't find any evidence that the kids were here. Their signals may have led us here, but I'm not sure they were."

"They had to have been here." Keifer said. "Witnesses said they saw a dimentional area appear over this building for at least ten minuntes."

"But how were they overpower so easy and so fast? They never even sent out a distress signal." One of the officers asked.

"I have no idea but what ever happened it happened quick, there's no sign of struggle either here or in the net." Famous replied.

"Well maybe they skipped out. You know finished the mission and just didn't report back. Cut their signal so we couldn't track them. After all they have been worked really hard lately." A second officer brought up.

"No, that's not like Chaud, Lan and Terra might be capable of that but Chaud would never go along with it…" Famous' voice said as it faded out in Tasha's mind.

"Tasha what is it?" Breeze asked when she noticed that her operator was no longer paying attention and she was staring intently at something a couple of yards away.

"Do you see that?" Tasha asked pointing as she walked toward the object that had caught her attention, it was glowing in the light of one of the sunbeams that came from one of the few windows that the warehouse had. Picking it up she noticed that it was a platinum sliver and amethysts locket.

"Tasha, Breeze did you find something?" Famous asked walking over when he noticed that the two girls had left he group.

"This." Tasha replied as she held up the locket.

"It's Terra's." Famous said when he took the locket from her and looked it over. "Now we can know for sure that Regal has something to do with the team's disappearance. Terra's worn this locket everyday since she moved here, she wouldn't leave this behind."

* * *

Back at Scilab Dr. Hikari was at his whit's end. They should have known better, he should have known better. They never should have sent those kids on a mission so dangerous on their own, if something happened to those children he would never forgive himself. When the group returned he was almost relieved, but when they came back alone his heat sank. Even though he knew the coming answer to his question he had to ask, he had to make it real.

"Did you find them?" he asked.

"Dr. Hikari, I'm sorry," Famous replied, "Regal has them and they're gone with out a trace."

TBC


	6. Repressed Memories Are Always Key

Chapter 6

Repressed Memories are Always Key

Regal watched the children begin to discuss their situation as soon as he gave them the riddle. This was going to be a lot of fun. He hoped the stress that was soon to come would be enough to get them out of his hair, but if it didn't he had another plan up his sleeve and it was sure to work. Let's just say that his last resort would be totally final. But lets not dwell on the future. As he gazed at the children his eyes fell on one. Terra. It was time to get the show on the road.

* * *

"Guys I hate to say this but I think that we have to play Regal's game. We're not going to get out of her otherwise." Mega said.

"I think we know that already Hub." Lan stated slightly irritated.

"I know you do Lan, but I was just trying to make sure that you actually made the danger that we're in part of your abstract reality." Mega shot back.

"Whoa" Terra and Whisper said at the same time remaking over Mega's statement. They hadn't experienced Mega losing his cool. This was a first. Lan looked pretty shocked too. He could only stare at his brother in disbelief. His eyes wide and his mouth open. Once he got over the shock he was ready to deal one back.

"Look guys, arguing not going to help us here." Chaud interjected once he noticed that Lan was fixing to shoot something back. As much as he would love witnessing the two brothers getting into a fight, now was not the time. "I know we're all under a lot of stress right now but the only way we're going to be able to get out of here is to solve Regal's riddle, and we need a plan to do that. So are you two with us or not?" he asked.

"I'm with you." Both boys stated simultaneously.

"How can we sure that Regal's actually going to let us go once we solve this?" Whisper asked. "It not like he's trustworthy."

"We can't but it's not like we have a choice," Proto stated, "we just have to do what he says and take things from there."

"I don't like this," Mega said.

"I don't think anyone dose." Lan added.

"Great so now that we're all equally depressed let's get to work on how we can actually solve this puzzle. But before we do anything we need to break this thing down, see exactly what we're dealing with here" Chaud said as he turned to Terra, "Terra you remember everything that Regal said don't you?" he asked.

"Me, why me?" she asked in reply, when it registered that Chaud had directed the question to her. Her mind had been elsewhere and she had been caught off guard. Not to mention she seem on edge. Something that Mega took note of.

"Well considering that the rest of us were pretty hot under the collar, you're probably the only one that remembers everything. Not to mention that you have that observant streak in you, we don't want anything to be left out."

Terra looked up at Chaud. Sometimes she really wished that she wasn't the person she was. At this moment she wanted to fade into the woodwork but someone wasn't allowing her to do that. "Well in a nut shell he said that three people died and they were brought back to life stronger than they had been previously. One man connected all three people to each other and there's a fourth person like the other three that no one knows. And once we find out who these people are we should be aware that their identities shouldn't divide us." Terra replied.

"Wait didn't he say something about where we could find the answers?" Whisper asked.

"Yeah he said that we could find the answers in ourselves, but for us to use the city scrolls. Whatever that means." Terra replied.

"They're records." Lan said suddenly, so suddenly that everyone jumped.

"What?" everyone asked in question to Lan's statement.

"They're records, you know how the ancient Egyptians recorded everything on scrolls of parchment paper, they had one of the finest libraries in their time." Everyone started to give Lan a sideways glance.

"He pays attention in class sometimes." Mega stated.

"Well that dose make sense, I can't think of anything else it might refer too. He probably wants us to check out City Hall" Proto said.

"Yeah, you're right," Chaud added. "Ok here's the plan, since it seems we're looking for some type of records we need to split into two groups. One group needs to check out City Hall and the other needs to track down our families personal files at our homes. Is everyone with me so far?"

"No need for a compass yet," Mega replied.

"Good," Chaud replied, "Ok, Terra, Mega, since you're probably the two most level headed people in this group right now I think you need to track down our families personal records. You two are really good at putting things together so you'll probably see things that the rest of us would overlook. And since Regal said we could find the answers within ourselves that'll be the best place to start. Not to mention that you have a knack for breaking and entering," Chaud stated looking at Terra. The rest us should check our City Hall since Regal specifically said we should look in the _"city scrolls" _We should probably meet back here in three hours to compare notes if we find anything. So everyone understands what's going on and knows what they need to do?" Chaud asked when he was finally finished.

"Sounds like a plan." Lan said getting up.

"Good, because it's the only one we've got." Chaud said as his group started to congregate around him and they started towards the city.

_"And one we need to get to."_ Chaud and Proto thought. _"The longer Regal had us trapped the longer he and his darkloids can have a field day."_

I guess we should be going too." Mega said as he got up and turned to look at Terra. "Terra?" he asked trying to grab her attention. She looked like she was somewhere else. Something that had become all too common lately.

"Oh, yeah, we should get going," Terra replied when she came back quickly getting up trying to avoid Mega's concerned glance she was sure was there at all costs.

* * *

As Mega and Terra made their way down the now empty streets Terra began to slip in and out of her mind. The whole time and after Regal had given them the riddle his eyes wherever they had been had been on her. She knew what he meant; she knew what the riddle meant. And some how Regal knew that she knew. Terra was so preoccupied in the mental battle she was having in trying to decided whether she really knew what Regal meant of if it was just some freaky coincidence or if it was just her own imagination and guilt making her see things that weren't there that she had completely cut her senses off from the world. And had become physically spaced out again.

"Hey, Terra are you ok?" Terra heard Mega ask as she felt his hand on her shoulder. It was official Terra had literally become a walking Murphy's Law. Of all the people she could have been paired with she had to be set with the person who could see through anybody.

"Yeah why?" Terra asked.

"You just looked out of it again," Mega replied, "we made it to your house and you didn't even notice." He said as he pointed to the two story gray and wine-violet bricked house.

"So we have," Terra replied trying to seem as normal as possible knowing it wasn't doing a bit of good, Mega could see right through her. Terra took out her key and opened the door. Instead of feeling like she was in a safe haven as she usually did when she opened these doors all she felt was the cold presence of unconfronted truth.

"So now that we know that the scrolls are probably records you have any idea where your parents keep their skeletons?" Mega asked deciding not to press the impending matter of Terra's behavior. Whatever was bothering her she wasn't going so share it. The door was closed and it didn't look as if she was going to let him in.

"This way," Terra replied as she made a half smile at the joke and led the way to her dad's office instantly taking put a bobbing pin from her hair and unlocking the filing cabinet reveling her family history entirely on paper.

"Well we have to start somewhere might as well be here." Mega said as he randomly picked out a file and started to flip through its contents. After mentally pacing for a while Terra went and picked out a file, only unlike Mega it wasn't at random, she was looking for something. Maybe the file wouldn't be here, maybe she didn't know what Regal meant and Regal didn't know the truth about her and her family. Only time and two documents would tell. Terra's mind soon callused to the point where her mind was only sending and receiving simple commands: flip, turn, look, thumb, check again, her body following the simple commands until she met those two fated documents. Certificates to be exact. Her heart stopped as her fingers brushed the sides of the paper.

"Terra what's wrong?" Mega asked when he looked up and noticed that Terra's eyes had glazed over and her whole body seemed to be frozen and rigid as she looked at a few pieces of paper she held in her hands. Terra looked up with a haunted look in her eyes and didn't answer. Within seconds emotion could be seen fighting to be let out behind her glassy doll eyes and porcelain face. Suddenly Terra abruptly got up and bolted from the room leaving Mega at a total loss as to what had exactly just happened. "Terra what's wrong?" Mega asked as he decided to follow her only to have a door shut in his face. Mega stared at the door until her thought of something. "Terra are you ok?" he asked a second time when he passed through the door.

"Stupid mental controlled environment." Terra whispered to her self, loud enough for Mega to hear as he walked up behind her. "But I'm ok I guess."

"Then what was that back there?"

"Pent-up anxiety, this is just getting to be to much."

"What is?"

"Untold truth, unspoken lies, now Regal's riddle," Terra replied as she fingered the two certificates. "I know the answer to Regal's puzzle Mega."

"What, how?"

"I just do Hub, and Regal knows that I know. I don't know how he figured it out. My own father doesn't even know that I know. But I could feel his presence the whole time he was telling us that mind bender. It was like he was looking me in the eye when he said it. He's using me to be his catalyst.

"Are you saying that he wants you to start us down that road to destruction that he warned us about?" Mega asked as he started to wade through the sudden information Terra had just spit out.

"Yeah, he wants me to start a domino effect," Terra said looking at Mega for the first time, "you mean to tell me that you didn't understand the riddle? _Three souls fell asleep in death only to arise stronger thereafter? _That should have been self-explanatory for you."

"Well I thought about it, but I'm the only one who's had any type of resurrection, so I just pushed it off to be a dead end.

"Mega, that's what it means, it has to be. Regal wouldn't make it that hard to understand, he's not that type of guy. He's like the one in _The Scarlet Letter_, he likes to hide things in plain sight. Besides I kinda know you're not the only persons who's had a technological revival."

"How would you know…" Mega started to say when Terra took off her locket and handed it to him.

When Mega opened the locked he was faced with four pictures. One of Terra around age six and one of another girl who looked exactly like her in every way except for her Caribbean ocean blue eyes. Mega's heart stopped, but he still looked at the other pictures. The third was of Terra and the girl together and the last was of Terra's whole family the girl included. Mega looked up at Terra speechless. Her sudden change in behavior all made sense now.

Terra couldn't help but give a weak simile at Mega's expression. "It's hard to believe isn't it?" she asked, "you're not the only one who's a twin."

TBC


	7. Untold Truth & Unspoken Lies

Chapter 7

Untold Truth and Unspoken Lies

Terra looked away from Mega's shocked expression for a second. "Her name was Skyler. My mom picked out our names; dad wasn't very good in that category. She didn't want our names to rhyme like a lot of twins names do, but she wanted to make sure that we would always be connected so she chose Skyler and Araya. Sky and Air or a ray of sunshine and moonlight however people took it."

Terra looked back up at Mega he still stood there speechless, a small smile started to creep its way across Terra face. "Hey take a look at this." She said as she got off her bed removing the locket from Mega's paralyzed hands and rubbing her fingers across the locket's spine. Suddenly the locket began to glow sending out a holographic image, one of Terra, Chaud, and Whisper. Obviously they were goofing off for the camera because they were all on top of each other as if they had been wrestling. The picture had been taken so long ago that it seemed like it had been taken from someone else's life. Terra smiled as the memory came back. "Skyler and I had gotten into a fight over something. It was so long ago that I can't even remember what it was about, all I can remember is that Chaud tried to break it up and he got pulled in instead. It must not have been over anything serious because after a while we were all laughing. My mom had heard us and she came outside with her camera and she took the picture."

"Chaud knew you had a sister? He's never said anything." Mega commented when he recovered from his shock.

"He's just like that." Terra said as she closed the locket and put it back on. "He knew how hard I took her death and he wouldn't bring it up unless I did first."

"How'd she…"

"Die?" Terra asked, "She was hit by a car. We were six and it was pitch black outside, Chaud, Skyler and I were playing hide and go seek. Skyler found me and started chasing me around the house when some rich drunk prep hit our curb and flipped his car. Skyler pushed me out of the way and she was hit instead, but it didn't kill her right away…

_flashback…_

"_How is she Doctor?" Dr. Javedson asked with Terra and his wife by his side._

"_She stable for now but it doesn't look good. She suffered a lot internal bleeding and swelling. We managed to get it down but she's in a coma, if she doesn't come out of it in the next two weeks I don't think she'll make it."_

_Terra went numb when she heard what the doctor said. Her sister could die? Terra looked down the hall to the room where she had seen the doctor come out of, her sister's room. Silently and stealthily Terra slipped away, totally unnoticed by the others. She went down to the room and ducked in right before a nurse who was making her rounds turned the corner. When she saw her sister her heart felt as if it had been ripped out. She was black and blue all over and her face was swollen beyond recognition. As Terra took a closer look she noticed that the doctor was right, this was no ordinary sleep. Terra closed her eyes, concentrated all she felt from her sister was numbness, it was like she wasn't there._

"_It should be me lying in that bed not you." Terra whispered, tears forming in her eyes._

"_How is she?" someone asked. When Terra turned around she saw it was Chaud._

"_How'd you get here?" she asked wiping away a tear that had escaped her eye._

"_I'm a Blaze, I have connections," Chaud replied, Terra raised one of her eyebrows, "Ok, ok, after the police talked to me I snuck out of the house and got a driver. So how is she?"_

"_They say that she has internal bleeding and swelling but they managed to stop it and now she's stable." Terra replied._

"_Well that's good isn't it?" Chaud asked._

"_It would be except the doctor said that she was in a coma, and that if she didn't come out of it in the next two weeks that she won't make it."_

"_Well Skyler should beat those odds, she's a fighter, and after all she has you to look after. She can't leave you alone."_

"_Look after? She's only two minutes older than me."_

"_You know what I mean, if anyone can come out of it she can." _

_Terra looked back at her sister in the bed. 'Yeah,' she thought, 'but sometimes that isn't enough.'_

"_Oh my you children shouldn't be in here," a nurse said as she passed the room, coming in when she noticed to two kids, her face softened when she saw Terra's face. "You're her sister aren't you?" she asked in a consoling voice, "and you must be her other friend," she asked when she turned to Chaud. Booth Chaud and Terra nodded. "Well don't worry we'll take good care of her, she's in good hands here." the nurse said as she led the two six year olds out of her room. Terra looked back just before they rounded the corner. She felt like she was abandoning her._

_/ _

_Terra walked down the hospital hall, lunch tray in hand. It had been a week since the accident and since Terra's school let its' students out for lunch Terra had decided to eat hers at the hospital. She wanted to make sure that if her sister woke up someone would be with her, or if things took a turn for the worse the opposite. The doctors and her parents had tried to shield her, whisper around her about her sister's plight, but she had heard anyway. There had been no change in her sister vitals. Sometimes she felt as if she could feel her sister struggling, trying to free herself from something, but even that wasn't as strong anymore. Of course her parents didn't know about her schedule, they thought that she spent lunch at school. As she neared her sister's room she heard two voices drifting from it. She placed her tray on a bench and eased up to the door, she recognized her dad's voice, but the other one she hadn't heard before and she didn't know who it belonged to. _

"_Are you sure this is going to work?" her father asked._

"_It should, it's been successful both times I've done it." The unfamiliar voice stated, "are you sure she's not going to come out of it Jonah?"_

"_I'm sure," her farther replied, "the doctors said if she was going recover that she would have shown some type of change but she hasn't, they don't think that she going to make it."_

"_Have you told Amy and Terra yet?" the voice asked. Obviously the man knew Terra and her mother. _

"_No, no I haven't, I'm hoping she'll make a turn around, it'll kill them both if she dies. Especially Terra." _

"_Well now they'll have a chance." The voice replied reassuringly._

"_I know, thank you Yuuichiro." Her father said as his voice seemed to come nearer. Terra quickly moved and hid behind the marble bench and peeked out just in time to see her farther leave with another man, a tall brunet, through the exit. Having forgotten about her lunch Terra went into her sister's room shut the door and began to cry. She had already begun to prepare herself for her sister's death but she had always wished in her heart for a miracle, but now her hopes had been crushed. If her father thought that her sister wasn't going to make it, it was probably true. This was all her fault. As she sobbed she noticed a dim blinking underneath Skyler's hair as she raised it she noticed a small blinking device on her right temple what was that?_

_/ _

_It was a week later and Skyler's vitals hadn't gotten any better. In fact they were slowly beginning to drop. Terra was in her room along with her parents. Both of them had been under a lot of stress but Terra's mother had been under the most strain. She had been trying to put on a brave face but it finally managed to crack. She started crying and ran from the room with her husband following her out leaving Terra alone. Terra looked at her sister, the bruises were almost gone but she had grown paler and looked less alive, she would just have to face facts, her sister was dying. She was going to have to say good bye while she still had the chance. She hoped that what doctors said about coma patients being able to hear what was said around them was true. Terra closed her eyes but her tears burst through anyway. Little did she know that what she was going to say would be the last words Skyler would ever hear as a human._

_"Skyler I know you've been fighting, I could feel it, but I could also feel your pain too. You can let go now, I don't want you to suffer. I want you to know that I love you and that I hope you can forgive me, this was all my fault. You shouldn't be lying here, I should. I ruined your life, please forgive me."_

_Terra searched their link for any indication that Skyler had heard her, but what happened wasn't what she expected. _

_Sykler opened her eyes and with a small smile on her face said: "It wasn't your fault." _

_Terra couldn't beleive it but she didn't have a chance to do anything else; Skyler eyes slowly closed just as they had opened and then Terra heard the most horrid sound on earth:_

"..._"_

_The sickening sound of a flat line._

_S__lowly everything that Terra sensed from her sister faded untill there was nothing._

_End flashback…_

"You were there when she died?" Mega asked.

Terra nodded, "Yeah, just like Lan was there for you."

"Dose she know?" Mega asked.

"What, that she's my sister?" Terra asked.

"Yeah,"

"No, no she doesn't." Terra replied with shadow in her voice.

"How's that possible that doesn't make any sense." Mega replied.

'I know it doesn't, but truth be told, I'm not even suppose to know…"

_Flashback…_

_Terra walked down the dark hall of her house, every few seconds the house would light up as bright as day. Metro City was having one of the worse electrical storms it had had in it's history and the lighting was really bad._

_Terra was now nine years old and it had been three years since her sister's death, and she had finally gotten over it, or more likely gotten past it, death isn't something one can simply get over. And it had been really hard. Right after Skyler's death Chaud's mother had come down with cancer and had died shortly thereafter. If that wasn't bad enough for the two of them a few months later Chaud father picked up the family and moved. So she had been left sisterless and bestfriendless. Terra had worked through it though, she had gotten closer to the other friends she had. But one thing had remained the same, lightning still freaked her out. As she continued down the hall to her parents' room she noticed a soft glow of light coming from underneath her fathers office door. She figured that her dad was just working late and was fixing to walk into the bedroom on the opposite side when she heard her farther speaking to someone. With her curiosity aroused she dropped the pillow she carried and eased up to the door._

"_Sweetheart are you ok?" she heard her father asked, "the lightning isn't affecting the net space is it?"_

"_No dad everything's ok." another voice replied one that Terra hadn't heard in three years and never thought that she would hear again. She became sick to her stomach, as another strike of lighting occurred._

"_Well in any case I think that it would be best if you transferred to the PET, I have a feeling that there may be a blackout." Dr. Javedson replied._

_Terra couldn't take the pressure that was building inside of her anymore. She quickly turned the knob and opened the door coming face to face with her father, and on her father's life size holographic generator her sister in full navi form. Her dead sister. Terra's father was speechless, fully shocked seeing her there, but Skyler wasn't._

"_Airie," she said as she stepped down from the generator's pedestal walking toward her sibling. _

_Terra could help but recoil when Skyler came near to her, she couldn't even make a reply. But soon anger overcame her fear and shock; this helped her find her voice. "How is this possible," she managed to chock out not really knowing if she was asking her father or herself. Her dad gave no reply. "Is this why I never felt that she was really dead?" she demanded. "Is this why every time I ever got around a computer or net appliance I felt her? How could you keep this from me? I thought that I was going crazy, but I never said anything because I didn't want you to send me to another shrink! How could you do this?" Terra continued asking as the questions streamed out of her._

"_Hey Terra it's ok." Skyler said as she came toward her sister. Terra made up her mind to reach out for her but when she did her hand passed through her as if she were a ghost._

"_Yeah, I'm not really good at the touching thing." Skyler said. Since the two sisters were preoccupied in their impromptu reunion neither one of them noticed that their father had made his way to his computer. Just as soon as Terra managed to give a short laugh Skyler disappeared in a shower of pixels. "Dad what are you doing?" Skyler asked when she found that he had trapped her in the computer. _

"_I'm sorry," their father simply replied. But the way that he said it Terra could tell that he didn't mean that he was sorry for lying to her. Skyler noticed it too._

"_You're sorry for what?" Terra asked apprehensively as she watched her father reach for the computer's keyboard._

"_I'm sorry for what I'm going to do. You weren't suppose to know." He replied as he began to key comands into the computer, something that Skyler couldn't see, but Terra saw it._

"_Sky get out of there!" Terra exclaimed but it was too late, after her father struck the enter key __Skyler fell lifelessly to the floor of the net space…_

_"What did you do to her?" Terra screamed as tears streamed down her face. "What did you do? Why did you lie to me?" _

_So many emotions were building up inside her at once: fear, anger, hope, confusion, it was too much; after a few seconds she began to feel lightheaded the last thing that she saw was her father suddenly rush toward her before everything went black._

_End flashback_

"The next morning I woke up in my own bed. The first thing I did was run to my fathers office and look for Sky but I couldn't find her. After that I tried to confront my dad but he looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about, said that I had just had a really vivid dream. I was convicned that what I had seen was real but after I couldn't find anything that told me otherwise I began to beleive it myself. I never saw Sky again until my dad gave her to me as a navi two years later. He told me that he had made Whisper as a memorial for Sky so that I would always have a peice of her with me.

When I saw her that frist time it brought everything back, I was sure then that what I had seen was real, that it hadn't been a dream. I mean why would I dream that Sky was a navi and then two years later be given a navi that looked exactly like her? I tried to question her, give her a sign that I knew the truth, but she never seemed to catch on. After a while I realized that either she just couldn't remember or that what I experenced hadn't really happened, that it had been a dream. I'd been wresting with that ever since until I met you and Lan. When I saw your father for the first time I recognized him as the man I had seen in the hospitial.

I was so releaved to know that I wasn't crazy in thinking that Sky was still alive; and then when I stumbled across your death certificate that day I realized that your dad had to have done the same thing for his child. That one of the two times he mentioned to my Dad had to have been you since you were Lan's navi and you had that uncanny resemblence. I was able to give Lan the nudge that he needed to get things out in the open. After the truth came out about you I was able to know once and for all what truly became of Sky; I just didn't know what to do about it."

"I don't understand why your dad blocked Whisper's memories, having her keep the truth from you I can see; but to take the truth of her idenity away from her, and then to convince you that what you had seen was a dream…" Mega said as he trailed off.

"I don't understand it either, my best guess is he thought me knowing would somehow be a threat. Probably the same reason you haven't told the chief the truth about you. He probably trusted me but was afraid that if I told someone it would set off some moral debate."

"You know if your dad really did block your sister's memories there has to be a program in place that's doing it, if you take it down..."

"I know, and there is a program. After I knew for sure that that Whisper really was Sky I hacked her one night; found it."

"So this is what's been bothering you lately isn't it?" Mega asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Terra replied, "I've been trying to get the nerve to delete the program, and lately I've been rushed into make a decision."

"Why?"

"Because the program's slowly degrading. You've noticed how Whisper's been more bold and in your face lately haven't you?"

"Yeah, now that you've mentioned it she has been acting a little weird."

"Her subconscious has slowly been attacking the program and rejecting it and that's causing her true personality to show through, she was always a little more blunt that me; which is hard to beleive I know, but she just naturally holds back. I've wanted to tell her, but I was so afraid of what my dad might do, I thought that he might try to block her memories again. After I noticed that the program was stating to break down that just caused more problems. I was scared that Skyler would be mad at me for not telling her the truth sooner, so I've just put of off. Now somehow Regal's found all this out and he's forcing me to play my hand."

"Terra you're going to have to tell her. Nothin's going to get better until you do."

"I know that." Terra said as she stood up and turned toward him.

"You ok?" Mega asked.

"Yeah, I know I've got to do this, we're not going to understand why we're really here until I do." Terra replied.

"Well do you need any help? You know, moral support?"

"Of course, but this is probably something I need to do myself. Thanks though." Terra said as she walked through the door.

Mega watched her leave. After a few minuets he decided to follow her. There was no way he was going to let her do this alone.

* * *

Meanwhile at city hall…

"Have you found anything yet?" Chaud asked as he shut the drawer on one filing cabinet and opened another.

"Nope," Lan replied, "and to tell me again exactly what we've looking for."

"Three records of people who died and came back to like." Proto simply replied.

"Oh yeah like they're actually going to put that on paper, plus this city houses over two million people and we're suppose to find three who laughed in the face of death? That's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Is Regal nuts?" Lan asked.

"Yes," Whisper replied, "but not in this sense or he wouldn't be having is do this." She said as she looked over a file and then put it back in it place, then she paused for a second, "You know Regal said that the three souls would rise up after their death ergo, a resurrection. Lan your brother did that, plus he said that we could find the answers within ourselves so they have to be someone we know. Why didn't we just start searching with Mega?"

"Because he's a false lead," Chaud replied, "Mega's the only one of us who's had any type of resurrection and unless the two of you somehow died early on and came back to life it would be a lost cause and a waste of time even looking into it. You two don't know anything that we should know do you?" Chaud asked directing the question to Proto and Whisper. He knew that the answer would be no but he had to ask it anyway. He wanted to be thorough.

"No." Proto and Whisper replied together without even looking up from the files that they were checking.

As Proto thumbed through the files he came to one with a _'Blaze'_ marking, he glanced at it for a few seconds and moved on. As Whisper looked over at her files she started to slightly grimace. It felt like she was having a headache. At least she was pretty sure that this was what a headache would feel like, she wasn't human so she wouldn't really know. She hadn't told Terra that she had been having them because she didn't want her to worry; she had enough going on. Besides she wanted to know where this was taking her, the headaches weren't exactly headaches although that's what they felt like. It was more like she was experiencing a forced download. Like part of her programming wanted the information but part of her was trying to reject it.

It seemed like whatever was being forced into her were memories. Someone else's memories. She hardly ever understood what they were, they came and left so fast that she couldn't grasp them. But whatever they were they seemed to be slowly changing her personally, she had become so brash lately. As soon as it was over she relaxed then tensed. Ever since the downloads had started she had become more and more perceptive each time, this time she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of Terra and Chaud but they had been so young, what was up that? Did this have anything to do with Terra's nightmares?

She thought it over for a second and then brushed it off. She couldn't think about this right know, she had a job to do. As she continued to flip through the filing tabs she came upon one of interest. This one was marked Javedson, Terra's family's name. She pulled it out and opened it. It was Terra's birth certificate, she smiled as she looked at it, that was until she noticed that the option for single or multiple birth was marked as muliple, and Terra was designated as the second child. Terra was a twin? Why hadn't she said anything?

Whisper felt something well up inside her, like something was fighting to get to the surface but she pushed it away. She quicky went back into the filing cabnet and saw that she has missed another Javedson file. Inside she found a birth certificate for a _Skyler Nadia Ann Javedson, _she then turned to the next certificate in horror, it was a death certificate, one with the same name. _"Wait a minute," Whisper thought to herself, "Skyler, that's the name that Terra's been yelling out at night. And the name that Chaud's butler called me. Who is this girl?" _but Whisper didn't have much time to ponder over the mystery, the feelings and pressure that had been building up inside her that she had pushed back wouldn't be denied this time. They broke loose and fully encompassed Whisper inside. This was the biggest download that Whisper had ever felt, and the most painful, she couldn't help but let out a hair-curling scream as the pain became to much to bare.

"Whisper!" Proto exclaimed as he turned around at the sound of the girl's scream and caught her just in time before she fell to the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Lan and Chaud asked as they came over.

"I have no idea, one second she was fine and the next she was like this." Proto replied as he looked upon his friend who was writhing in pain.

Although Whisper had three people standing over her talking she could barely hear them, her mind was being bombarded by information that was flooding in like a hailstorm. The memories just kept coming and they wouldn't stop. After about two minuets though they ceased, and everything went back to the way it was before; it was like the download had never happened. Well everything but one tiny little detail.

"Whisper are you ok?" Lan, Chaud and Proto asked together when they saw her body suddenly relax.

Whisper jumped at their voices when she came to. "Yeah, I'm ok," she said as she picked herself off the floor still rubbing her temples. She did this for about five seconds before something finally clicked. "Oh my diga pix." She breathed in such a low whisper that it was barely audible. But Protoman managed picked it up.

"What wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Whisper quickly replied, "I just remembered there's something I need to tell Airie, but I can tell her later." She replied as she turned back to her filing cabinet. She knew that that didn't sound very convincing but it was all she had at such short notice. And it wasn't Protoman was still worried.

"Whisper you're sure there's nothing wrong, because last time I checked navi's didn't suffer from any type of internal pain."

"Protoman I'm fine," Whisper replied as she turned back around so she could face him and put his mind to ease. But her plan sorta backfired. When she turned to face the shaded teen he was instantly taken aback, was well as everyone else.

"What wrong?" Whisper asked.

"It's your eyes," Proto replied.

"What about them." Whisper asked back.

"Nothing really, they just look different." Proto replied as he continued to stare.

By now Lan and Chaud were staring into her eyes as well, almost seeming to be captivated by what they saw. Whisper was becoming unsettled with the amount of attention she was getting; she needed to get out before someone put two and two together.

"Ha," she laughed nervously, "you know what, this thing that I need to tell Araya is really staring to bug me. I think I need to go tell her."

"Well you can go, no ones going to stop you, after all it's not really like we're going to find anything anyway." Chaud said giving Whisper the window she needed to escape. But Whisper could tell that he wanted her gone. Was it possible that he could have recognized something? Whisper decided not to think about it, she needed to get out while she still could.

"Thanks Two Tone," Whisper said as she stated to leave instantly mentally slapping herself. She had just made a big mistake he would surely know who she was now.

"Two tone?" Lan and Proto asked together when they were sure Whisper was out of earshot.

"I haven't been called that in years." Chaud said in a fog as if he was trying to remember something.

"You were actually called Two Tone?" Lan asked in shock. He couldn't even believe that Chaud had ever had a nickname.

"Yeah, that was Terra's sister's nickname for me." Chaud replied.

"Terra had a sister?" Lan and Proto asked shocked.

"Her name was Skyler, she died eight years ago from a car accident." Chaud replied.

"Died?" Lan whispered to himself as he looked up at the door Whisper has just walked out of. Something had seemed different about her when she left but he couldn't put his finger on it, after thinking for a while though he knew what he saw. He had seen the same thing in Mega when he found out the truth. His eyes had transformed and Whisper's eyes had changed in the same way. They looked more human. When he looked down to the floor he noticed the file that Whisper had dropped it's contents scattered a few feet from each other. As he picked them up he could only stare at one of the papers, Skyler's death certificate.

TBC


	8. The Last of the Lost Boys

Chapter 8

The Last of the Lost Boys

Chaud continued to gaze at the door with a curious look in his eyes. It couldn't be, and if it was why hadn't Terra or Whisper told him? His thoughts were cut off when he noticed Lan staring at one of the documents that Whisper had dropped; Proto noticed it too.

"What's wrong?" Proto asked.

"It was Terra who came to the conclusion that Mega was my brother, not me. At first I thought that she was crazy. I mean the very idea that my dead twin brother was my netnavi seemed nuts, but I asked her about it anyway. She said that she found a report from my dad about a theory that he had that netnavis could become more human if they were incorporated with human DNA. But what if that wasn't the reason she knew at all? What if it was something else?"

"You think Whisper's really Skyler?" Chaud asked as he took the certificate from Lan and looked it over for himself.

"Maybe, do you?" Lan asked back.

Chaud turned to him and answered his question with another one. "Do you really think that Mega's your brother?"

"Well if Whisper really is Terra's sister why haven't either one of them said anything?" Proto asked. "Especially after they found out about Mega?"

"I don't know." Chaud said as he slipped document back in its file, "But there's something going on."

* * *

Once Whisper was outside City Hall, she started to relax. Besides being shaky and having an overwhelming urge to let out a decibel-defying scream she was ok. But she had so many feelings building up inside her: anger, confusion, violation, relief, happiness, but mostly violation. All in all she felt as if she had just woken up from a bad dream, a dream that had managed to last five years, but a dream. She wasn't Whisper EXE whose operator was Araya Terra Ann Javedson. She was Skyler Nadia Ann Javedson, a girl who lost part of her life saving her sister's and her dad had taken that knowledge away.

Terra was her sister. No wonder she had been under so much stress lately, she must have found out what their father had done to them. And not only that but she must not have mentioned it because she was afraid of what their father would do if he found out that she had rediscovered the truth. One thing was for sure she needed to talk to her. When she turned around she caught her reflection on the mirrored glass. No wonder the boys had been taken back, her eyes did look different. They looked human, they showed a girl who had a past.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Terra stood on the front porch of her house resting against a column PET in hand, Mega who had decided to follow her had stopped short just inside the house and out of sight. Terra gazed at the glowing hand held and down the street in the direction of her destination, she was actually going to do it. She opened Whisper's directory files and was just about to delete the program that was blocking her sister's memories when a dull throbbing started. "Uhh," Terra groaned as she tried to shake it off, but the pain kept coming. The throbbing getting sharper and more blunt. After a while the pain had become so intense that Terra couldn't hold herself up anymore. Mega who was still looking on noticed that his friend was in trouble.

"Terra!" he exclaimed as he came through the door and caught the girl just in time before she crumbled to the ground. "Terra are you ok, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Terra said as the pain started to dull and subside, disappearing as quickly as it came. Terra didn't notice that her PET was glowing a different color, signaling something in Whisper's program had changed. "I feel fine now."

"How can that be possible?" Mega asked, "A few seconds ago it looked like you should be taken to a hospital."

"Who knows, it maybe just a side effect from being in here. After all we are in a mentally controlled environment and it's Regal's doing. I'm sure he didn't check to see if it was really safe." Terra replied as she removed herself from Mega's arms and sat on the top step.

"So you're sure you're ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Terra replied as she looked down the street, drawing up her knees, anxiety washing over her.

"Now what's wrong?" Mega asked as he picked up her vibe.

"I can't do this, no mater what I do, or what I say she's going to hate me. I would hate me if I were in her shoes."

"Terra she's not going to hate you. A little mad sure but she's not going stay that way very long."

"Yeah maybe, and that's a big maybe. Because if I recall Lan wasn't so cheery when he found out that his whole family had been lying to him for the past eight years." Terra replied bringing back the memory.

"You're rite," Mega said thinking about it, "But also remember he didn't stay mad very long, and considering what happened to you two, more of her anger is going to be directed at your dad, not you."

"I guess," Terra said as she shifted her weight putting her hands behind her and resting on them.

"Now get up and go find your sister before I make you get up." Mega replied jokingly as he transformed his arm into his buster and trained it on Terra.

"Fine, fine," Terra said as she threw her arms up in mock surrender, "I'll go."

Mega reformed his arm and watched Terra leave waiting a few minuets before he started to follow.

* * *

Terra walked down the empty streets, so deep in thought that she didn't even notice the stillness and eerie feeling that they carried, but not so deep not to notice that she was being followed. She had niticed Mega some time ago and was glad that he was there. She had only been trying to put on a brave face when she told him she wanted to do this alone and she was happy to have the support. Terra was so lost in thought that she didn't notice that she had just passed Whisper. Whisper saw her but let her go by because she didn't know what to say either, but as she watched her getting further and further away from her she knew she had to say something so she said the only thing that came to mind.

"Airie?" she asked softly enough so it seemed like it could be part of a dream but loud enough that it was made reality.

Terra stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being called, her nickname. But how could that be. There had only been one person who called her that, and that person had been locked away. It was then that Terra noticed her PET's soft glow, taking it in her hands she saw a notice posted that a program from its memory had been deleted, asking was she sure she wanted it gone. Terra didn't have to check the file number to know which one it was, she knew. The only question she had was: How? Once Mega saw that the two had met he took his leave and headed back to Terra's house. This only made the girl more nervous than she already was when she saw Mega leave.

"Airie?" Whisper asked again as she steeped closer.

"Sky?" Terra asked softly not daring to turn around. When she heard no objection she continued, "You hate me don't you?"

"No." Whisper replied as she stepped near to her sister. "Why would I hate you?"

"Because, it's my fault you got hurt in the first place, not to mention that I've known the truth ever since Lan found out about Mega and I never said anything. Even after I noticed that the program was degrading." Terra replied as she tears began to flow freely from her eyes. "How are you, you again anyway?"

"I had a little help." Whisper said as she pulled two certificates from her back pocket, handing them to Terra, "I left behind the ones I found at City Hall and got theses from the hospital. I came across my birth and death certificates during the search, somehow seeing them unlocked all my memories."

"Same thing happened to me." Terra replied, "When I found Mega's cirtificates I was able to know for sure that what happend the night of that big eletrical storm wasn't a dream; that it was real and I really saw you."

"This is just so weird," Whisper commented, "Just this morning I thought that I was just a netnavi who was fortunate enough to have a good relationship with her operator. Now I come to figure out that the past five years of my life have been a lie."

"Well I can relate to that too." Terra added, "It feels pretty weird since I was talking to my netnavi this morning and now I'm talking to my sister."

Whisper smiled at the comment then her face became solemn. "I still can't believe that dad is responsible for all of this though."

"For messing with our memories?" Terra asked.

"Yeah," Whisper replied, "We'll never understand what went through his head that night will we?"

"Probably not, I almost feel like I came out of a horror movie. How do you feel?"

"Confused to say the least, I still feel like I'm two different people."

"I can relate to that." Terra agreed, "So what happened when he program came down?"

"To tell you the truth it was pretty painful, I had this huge migraine for a few minutes. All the memories were coming back at once and I didn't know what to make of it, but after a while it all just clicked." Whisper replied.

"So Lan, Chaud, and Proto know something's up?"

"They have to," Whisper replied, "when it was all over everyone was giving me so much attention, Proto said that my eyes had changed and I know by the way that Chaud looked at me that he recognized something, that and the fact that I called him 2tone."

"Well, duh, Skyler, that would be a dead giveaway. You were the only one that ever called him that."

"Well can you blame me? I was trying to wade through half of my memories so I called him the first thing that came to mind. Besides I thought that you called him 2tone too?"

"No I didn't, I called him Oreo, remember?"

"Yeah, an oreo with it's top screwed off," Whisper said laughing to herself.

"Or a sundae made with chocolate ice-cream and white fudge." Terra added with a laugh, then her tone became a little more serious. "Mega knows too. I sorta freaked out when I realized that Regal's knew about you and that you were part of the riddle so I had to tell him."

"That's ok." Whisper replied, "After all he knows what we're going through, it's not like we can't trust him, plus he'd find out anyway woudn't he?"

"Ok now that we have all of the important things out of the way I have another question."

"What is it?" Whisper asked having no clue what Terra was about to ask.

"Well with all the recent changes that you've just gone through I was just wondering if you still have that crush on Proto?"

"I do not have a crush on Proto!" Whisper exclaimed as she gave Terra a playful shove.

"I'll take that as a yes," Terra replied as she got out of dodge just in time to avoid another shove.

"There is no dissuading you is there?" Whisper asked.

"N,o not really, but you should already know that." Terra replied.

"Well at least I can say one thing that you won't object to." Whisper said.

"What's that?" Terra asked.

"I was right about the riddle." Whisper said as she began walking the way Terra had come, "Back at City Hall I suggested that we should start with Mega since he would fit the description in the riddle but everyone thought that it was a dead end. Not that I came blame them, there was no other proof at the time."

"But now there is."

"Yeah, and since everyone already knows about Mega, he's probably the soul that was in the light."

"And since I was the only one that knew the truth about you, you're probably the soul that was in shadow," Terra said picking up.

"Yeah and that leaves only two more people, but we only have to figure out who one of them is. Ok Mega's one, I'm one…OMG" Whisper breathed stopping in mid sentence as she looked sharply at Terra.

"Protoman's the third." Terra said finishing Whisper's sentence, "How can that be…"

"Possible?" Whisper said finished, "Your guess is as good as mine because I didn't see this one coming I swear." Whisper said as she and Terra stopped in front of their house.

"So you two finally made it back." Mega said from the porch steps drawing the two's attention, "You were gone so long I thought one of you might have had a breakdown."

"Our mental health is fine Hub, but thanks for asking." Whisper replied as she came up the walk and sat down next to him and Terra doing the same on the opposite side.

"You're welcome-" Mega started to say, he would have said a more sarcastic remark but he found himself pulling a blank as what to call Whisper. He knew she knew the truth and that Terra probably told her that he knew, but he didn't know what to call her, or what she wanted to be called.

"Call me anything you want to Mega, I'm having an identity crisis myself."

"Yeah, well you shouldn't worry after all in a little while you'll probably have some company, because I have a feeling that that third soul will have more obstacles to overcome than any us." Terra added.

"You mean Protoman?" Mega asked.

"How'd you know that?" Whisper asked.

"It wasn't very hard to figure out. I mean if I'm one of the souls and you're the second one that left only one logical suspect to be the third. And like Terra said before Regal wouldn't make this hard, so it had to be someone close, but its pretty hard for me to picture Proto ever being human, he's so proper…or maybe I can." Mega said after he though for a second.

"How?" Whisper asked.

"Well remember when we battled Novaman earlier today and when he was haggling me about my past-" Mega started.

"And Proto made that remark about wanting to shutting him up." Terra said finishing the thought.

"Exactly, I thought that it was pretty weird for him to have that reaction but maybe he did that because he understood what I was going through." Mega said.

"Wow I guess the sayings true, everyone dose have a skeleton in their closet and the rich and famous always seem to have the best one's don't they? So where do we go from here?" Whisper asked.

"I guess we should try to find the truth about Proto, by the sound of the riddle the only person who knows the truth about him is himself and he hasn't made a move. I mean I hate to go behind his back but we need to get out of here." Terra commented.

"What about me?" Whisper asked, "I mean what do I do? Stay here or go back to City Hall?"

"Do you think you can hold up to what Chaud's going to ask you when you go back?" Mega asked.

"I can handle the questions," Whisper replied, "Besides since who I am is part of Regal's brain teaser the truth is going to have to come out, and I want to tell him, but what I don't understand is what Regal's trying to accomplish. I know he's trying to wreck the team but he helped Airie and me. I don't get it."

"I don't think he's trying to tear us apart that way," Mega said, "more or less I think he's trying to distance us from the adults, like your dad, after all none of us are to fond of him at the moment, including me." Mega said.

"Yeah, but Chaud isn't too fond of his dad already, I don't see how making him despise him anymore is going to help Regal out." Terra added.

"He's not going after Chaud's dad," Whisper said coming to a realization.

"Who's he going after then?" Terra asked.

"Chaud and Proto themselves, think about it. In each case one of the pair knew the truth, Mega knew and Lan didn't, then you knew and I didn't."

"So in this case Proto knows and Chaud dosen't?" Mega asked.

"Probably, and for Chaud that would really hurt, besides us and Proto Chaud doesn't have anyone. When we were little his mother was the only family he had, his dad was already like he is today, so when his mom died and Chuad's dad made them move he didn't have anybody. And if this thing keeps going the way it is, Proto's possibly related, he may even be an older brother. Maybe that's why he's always kept his visor on." Whisper said when she really thought about it.

"If that's true than Chaud's going to feel really betrayed." Mega added.

"And who could blame him?" Terra asked.

"No one, but before we get any further ahead of ourselves we need to find the proof to back us up." Mega said.

"Well then I guess you two should get to that, I on the other hand have to get back to City Hall, before someone has a heart attack. I'll see you guess later." Whisper said as she got up and headed back to the city.

"See ya." Both Mega and Terra said calling after her.

"So you want to start looking for that skeleton now?" Mega asked.

"Sure," Terra replied, "But more or less we won't be looking for a skeleton so much as a member of the living dead. And I wanted to tell you thanks by the way,"

"What for?"

"For telling me that everything was going to be ok. Skyler doesn't blame me for what happened and she doesn't hate me either."

"Well you're welcome, come on." Mega replied as he drug Terra from the porch and on to the street.

* * *

Back at Scilab Tasha was sitting quietly in one of the labs. While the rest of the scientists and the net police were tying to track down Regal, she and Breeze had been left behind in case the team's signals resurfaced. Tahsa still had Terra's locket and was contimplating wether to open it or not.

"You know that locket isn't going to tell you where they are." Breeze said looking over.

"I know, but it might be a clue as to why Regal wanted them." Tahsa replied as she continued to examine the piece of jewelry.

"Or the darkloids might have not have noticed it when it fell off her neck. Do you know the chance of that locket meaning anything? This isn't TV you know, that stuff only happens in the movies."

"Well our lives are weird enough for television." Tasha replied looking back.

"Can't argue with you there," Breeze said, "Hey Tasha do you think there's any chance they're like us? I mean _really _like us?" the navi asked.

"I have no clue, if they are it might be a reason why Regal wanted them but…" Tasha started to say when a soft pinging drew her attention to her monitor, "OMG," she breathed as she looked at the screen.

"What is it?" Breeze asked.

"I think I just found the teams signal."

* * *

"Hey I'm back," Whisper called as she reentered City Hall finding it quiet, "Hello?" she asked when she went back into the archives room, she was greeted with a sneeze, followed by a huge cloud of dust erupting into the air.

"Hey," Lan replied as he appeared from behind a filing cabinet.

"Where is everyone?" Whisper asked as she walked over to the dust-covered boy.

"Out back I think," Lan replied, "Chaud and Proto went out for some fresh air about five minutes ago. I decided to stay since I only had one more cabinet to look through. And since I'm done with that," Lan said as he shut the cabinet door, "I'm going to try to get some of the dust off of me." Lan said as he looked at himself noticing that he was totally covered.

"Yeah I would suggest that, you look like you got attached by a five year old who got into her mom's powder." Whisper said as she reached over knocking some dust off Lan's shoulders. Lan looked at her as she did that. Something really had changed about her. Her mannerisms and the way she carried herself were different. It wasn't like she was truly different, but she wasn't the same either. Whisper could see Lan's wheels turning and decided it was best to say something. "Well I guess I'll go and find Chaud." She said as she began to walk to the door.

"Yeah and I'll go and find a Dirt Devil somewhere." Lan said as went out another exit down another hall. Whisper waited for a while to make sure he was gone and then made her way to the filing cabinet she had seen Proto look in before her 'eye opening experience'. She had noticed that he had paused over a cretin file and she wanted to know what it was. As she thumbed through the tabs she found one marked 'Blaze'. "Bingo," she whispered to herself as she slipped the file from the rest. Opening the manila folder she found a state-certified certificate, an adoption certificate. "Emery Tristan Blaze," Whisper whispered as she read the name. "Who are you Protoman?" she asked her self, then she heard someone coming. Whisper quickly closed the folder slipped it back into it's place closed the cabinet and slid over to the next one just as Chaud walked in. She hadn't lost a step.

"So you finally made it back," the dual haired teen commented as he came in.

"Yeah just a few minutes ago," Whisper replied as she looked up, "I just thought that I should finish looking through this file first since I didn't finish." She said as she shut the cabinet.

"That's good, because if knew better I would way you were avoiding me."

"I'm not trying to avoid you," Whisper said as Chaud began to eye her, "Ok maybe I was trying to bide some time." She finally admitted as she played along with Chuad's game.

"So it really is you." Chaud said.

"Yeah, Chaud it's me." Whisper replied.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Well to tell be honest I didn't know I was anyone else besides Whister EXE before I fell out." Whisper replied. "Weird I know but that's the way it worked. Terra found out that I was living as a navi three years after the accident. It was the night that that huge electrical storm came through. For some reason our dad didn't want her to know that I was alive, after she ended up fainting because she was so upset he just put her back in bed and acted like nothing had happend the next morning, then he blocked my memories with a program. Terra was always torn whether what she had seen that night was real or not, but after she met Lan and Mega and found his birth and death certificates she was able to realize that everything had really happened.

"I'm sorry, Whisper I had no idea." Chuad replied.

"It's no big deal, I ended up finding out anyway. When we were looking through the files I ran across my own death certificate, seeing it brought back my memories."

"So that's what was going on when you blacked out. You had us really worried."

"Yeah the memories were being downloaded by force, I guess some of my dad's program was still around."

"Well like I said before I'm sorry, do you want to tell everyone else or wait?"

"She doesn't have to wait we already know." Lan said as he and Proto stepped from around the corner, "So you're Terra's sister."

"You were eavesdropping?" Whisper asked.

"Not really," Proto replied, "we pretty much had you figured out rite after you left."

"Yeah maybe but still that's not something that I would expect from you." Whisper said directing the statement to Proto.

"What can I say everyone falls below what's expected of them at least once in their lifetime." Proto replied.

"Sure from someone else, maybe, not you." Whisper replied as she gave Proto a short look over, "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Keep trying to unlock Regal's puzzle." Chuad replied.

"Oh that ought to be fun," Whisper replied, "Especially since what we have to go on is nothing."

"Yeah but-" Chuad started to say when he noticed Lan looking off in space, "Lan, you still with us?" he asked grabbing the boy's attention.

"Oh yeah," Lan replied, "I was just thinking how weird all of this is. Out of the six of us two have had their lives saved by my dad in the same exact way. Hey…." Lan started to say when he really thought about it, "that matches the…" his voice drifted off when his eyes fall on Proto, _'no it couldn't be. It wasn't possible,'_ Lan thought to himself when he turned back to Chuad and in the mean time catching a sharp glance from Whisper. Obviously she must have been thinking the same thing and at the same time she wanted it dropped.

"Matches what?" Proto asked.

"Nothing," Lan replied still looking at Whisper, "you know what it wasn't important."

Chuad caught the eye contact between Lan and Whisper, he didn't know what it was but something was going on.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Mega asked as he and Terra continued down the empty streets toward Chuad's mansion.

"Find the proof for the missing piece of the puzzle. And hopefully find out who Proto really is. " Terra said as they turned down Chuad's street.

"So you know where Chuad's dad keeps his records?" Mega asked.

"Come to think of it, no." Terra replied when she came to the realization.

"Well wouldn't we need to know where the files are?" Mega asked sarcasticly.

"Ha, ha, ha," Terra said as she pulled out her PET and called Chuad placing it on speaker.

"Oh, hey Terra," Chuad said when he picked up, "have you guys found anything yet?"

"We're not really sure yet." Terra replied as she looked over at Mega, "we may have something but we're not sure and we need to check your dad's files first, so do you know where we are exactly? Because I have no unearthly clue where they are." Terra asked hoping she was being vague enough so Chuad wouldn't be able to tell that she knew more than she was saying.

"They should be in my dad's office if they're anywhere," Chuad replied, then he paused for a second, "Whisper told me what happened, Terra, I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Terra replied, "So I guess we'll look at this stuff and call you back if we find anything ok?"

"That'll be fine, I'll see ya then, bye." Chuad said as he hung up.

"Ok see ya." Terra replied as she did the same.

"So the files are in his dad's office, well that's obvious." Mega supplied.

"Yeah it may seem that way but with Chuad's dad you never know; he's a little paranoid when it comes to that kind of thing."

"And he knows about Sky."

"Yeah."

"You think he's going to be able to draw the connection between me Whisper and Proto?"

"Hopefully, if he dose it will lead him strait to Protoman without our help, because I kinda feel bad going behind his back." Terra said as she and Mega rounded the corner and the side of Chuad's mansion came into view.

"So you ready to finish this?" Mega asked when they reached the door.

"Yeah I'm ready but to tell you the truth this is happing way too fast and it's starting to get way too weird."

"Well you should be use to that by know. We all should, so what so you think we'll find?"

"I don't know, but I'm sorta aiming for the truth." Terra replied as she opened the door.

As the door opened it seemed to creak, reveling behind it the view of the house, and since it was missing its staff seemed pretty cold, open and drafty. It seemed odd and out of place.

"Well here we go," Mega said as he entered the foray leaving Terra to follow. As they made their way to the staircase Terra couldn't help but think that with no one in it the mansion wasn't the most inviting place.

"Ok," Mega said as she opened the door to the office, "You take this side and I'll take this one." He said pointing to right side for Terra and the left side for himself as he started to take charge.

Terra went to the nearest cabinet opened its first drawer and started to thumb through it's contents. All business files. As she began to check another one she began to feel guilty. Chuad should be here, this was his family's secret and he should know about it. He should be there. As she continued to thumb across the file tabs her curiosity got the best of her and she began to flip through their pages. But what she saw made her disgusted.

"This is unbelievable," she said in a not so gracious tone.

"What is it?" Mega asked as he looked up.

"Look at these." Terra said as she held open the manila folder that contained several business transactions.

Mega's interest quickly deflated, "They're business transactions so what?" he asked when he looked them over.

"Hub, look at the signature."

"It's Chuad's?" Mega asked still not getting the point.

"Yes, it's Chuad's signature, but they're on all the documents, they're even on these." Terra said as she pulled the out the ones that Mega had been looking at.

"Whoa," he said as he looked them over, "these records go back three years. Hey isn't that about the same time that Chuad's dad left the country to scour the globe for companies to assimilate?"

"Yeah it is. Seems like the jerk has been having his son run the company for him. I thought they had like a 70-30 partnership between them but I guess not. No wonder Chuad doesn't care for him." Terra added.

After a few more minutes the two hadn't found anything. There was nothing to prove that Proto had ever been human.

"Well either we hit a dead end or we've been wrong since the start." Mega said he shut the last drawer. "There's nothing here."

"No this has to be it, everything fits. The three souls are you, Whisper, and Proto, and the one person who ties them together is your dad. Plus this is the only way we can find the answers in ourselves. OMG." Terra said

"What is it?" Mega asked.

A smile spread across Terra's face as she spoke. "The answers are in this house Hub, we've just been looking in the wrong place."

TBC


	9. A Picture's Worth a Thousand Lies

Chapter 9

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Lies

"What do you mean?" Mega asked.

"All this time we've been looking to Chaud's dad for all the answers but he's the wrong person to look to for that. Mr. Blaze is obsessed with perfection, so if there was something wrong with Proto as a child…"

"Mr. Blaze wouldn't leave a trace of proof behind."

"But there is one person who would." Terra said.

"Chaud's mother." Mega said when he thought about it.

"Exactly and I know just where to find the proof were looking for."

"Where?"

Terra simply pointed up.

"The ceiling?" Mega asked.

"Well you're pretty close, but I was aiming for the attic."

* * *

When the pair opened the attic doors the cold stale air rushed from the room past them.

"So what are we looking for?" Mega asked.

"A hope chest, Chaud's mom kept all the things she cherished in that thing. She showed it to me one day when I showed her my sticker collection. I had just collected 10 dollars worth of stickers and I was really excited, when I showed it to her one day she asked me if I wanted to see her collection she had from when she was a child. She took me to her room and showed me but I remember there was a lot of other stuff in that chest, baby clothes, and knickknacks stuff like that. So if Proto is someone close to Chaud this is the one place where we can find the proof." Terra said as she walked into the room.

"Well what's it look like?"

"Um, it was made from cherry wood and had some hand painted flowers on it. Plus it should be covered in about eight years of dust." Terra said as she started looking.

"Hey I think I found it." Mega called a few seconds later from the other side of the room. Kneeling down to the chest he rubbed his hand across I removing some of the dust. Terra came up and kneeled beside him.

"So," Mega said as he removed a silver key from a nearby coat rack that had the same flower design painted on it as did the chest and inserting it into the lock, it was a perfect fit "what's our next move?" he asked.

* * *

Chaud continued to look at Lan and Whisper, something was up with them he didn't know what it was but something was up. When he absentmindedly looked down at his watch he noticed that it had already been three hours. It was time to meet up with Mega and Terra.

"What is it?" Proto asked as he noticed Chaud staring at his watch.

"It's been three hours already it's time to head back."

"To bad we didn't find anything." Proto replied.

"Yeah I guess it is," Chaud said as he headed for the door.

Once Chaud and Proto were ahead of them and a safe distance away Lan caught Whisper by her arm.

"What was that back there?" he asked.

"I wanted you to stop talking." Whisper said.

"So were you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That depends, what are you thinking?"

"That Proto's the last soul." Lan replied.

"Then the answer would be a yes."

"Ok then, it's good to know that I'm not going insane." Lan replied, "So how'd you find out?"

"Well it wasn't just me, Mega and Terra put it together too. We started taking about how it seemed like Mega was the first soul and I was the second, after a while it just clicked, but that's not all, before I got my memory back I noticed that Proto paused over one of the files he was checking. That seemed sorta strange to me because he seemed like he gave it some attention, and it seemed even stranger after we figured out that it seemed like he was the last soul, so when I came back I checked it out. I found a adoption certificate with a name, Emery Tristan Blaze."

"So Proto was adopted into the family?" Lan asked.

Whisper shook her head. "No, if my theory's rite and Proto is Emery, he was adopted out of the family."

When Lan heard this he looked ahead of them and at Proto. "No wonder he's so reserved." Then he thought for a second. "Wait if that's true, then what happened, I mean he would to have had to have died to become a navi. How did he find his way back to the Blaze's?"

"I have no idea that's where I draw a blank."

"Are Hub and Terra checking this out?"

"Yeah, that's what they're doing right now."

"So Proto knows?"

"He has to, Chaud obviously doesn't."

"Then why hasn't he said anything, if he did we could have been out of here."

"Who knows, but he must have his reasons. Maybe they're the same as your brother's were."

"His dad told him not to tell?"

"No," Whisper replied, "I'm more on the wavelength that he's fearful of Chaud's reaction."

"Fearful?" Lan asked, "No offense but that's the last word I would put in the same sentence with Proto."

"Well I guess we shouldn't put him above that. After all, if we're right he's only human."

* * *

"Get Chaud" Terra replied, her answer surprising Mega, "Chaud should do this, not us. It's his families secret."

"But how can we get him here without Proto getting suspicious?" Mega asked.

"There's no way we can," Terra replied, "but that shouldn't matter anyway, Proto has to know what the riddle means by now, and he should have said something by now."

"Fear," Mega said, speaking the word after a few seconds.

"What?"

"Fear, if anything is holding Proto back that has to be it. I know that's part of the reason I didn't tell Lan the truth. I was afraid he'd think I was a freak."

"Proto having fear?" Terra asked, "that's pretty hard to picture, Hub."

"Do you have a better reason why he's held back?"

"Maybe neither Proto or Chaud knows?" Terra asked, "Maybe only your dad and Mrs. Blaze knew."

Mega gave her the look telling her she was contradicting herself.

"Ok," Terra admitted, "I'm reaching, but fear is a pretty sad excuses if you ask me." Mega gave her another look, "and yes I realize I just insulted myself"

"What's a sad excuses?" a voice asked from behind. When Terra and Mega turned around they saw that it was Chaud.

"Chaud what are you doing here?" Terra asked.

"We were due back in the courtyard after three hours remember? That was half an hour ago, when you two didn't show up I pulled your signal. So exactly what's a sad excuses?"

Both Mega and Terra looked at one another, they weren't sure what to say.

"Why do I have the feeling that eveyone's keeping something from me?" Chaud asked, "I got the same vibe from Lan and Skyler a few minuets."

"That's probably because they were." Terra replied. "I don't know how Lan knows but Sky, Hub and me figured something out and we didn't want to tell you until we were sure."

"What?" Chaud asked.

Terra and Mega looked at each other again, when Terra didn't speak Mega took charge. "Protoman's part of the riddle Chaud."

* * *

As the three talked little did they know they were being listened to. Proto was around the corner, safely out of sight, and unknown to him Whisper was right behind him. As she watched him she could see him tense.

"You know," she said in a low voice just loud enough for Proto to here, "you should have known that this would happen sooner or later, either he was going to stumble on it or you were going to tell him. Truth isn't something to be mocked, one way or another it's going to find a way into the light. It was just a matter of time... Emery."

Protoman stiffened, "So you know?" he asked.

"Figured it out," Whisper replied, "Once I remembered who I was the riddle came together. The soul that was in the light was Mega, because both Lan knows the truth now. I was the soul that was in shadow because only Terra knew the truth. That just left one person, and since two of the souls were someone from the team I figured the last soul would have to be you."

"He's my little brother." Proto stated almost in a whisper.

"I know." Whisper replied.

"I have to admit I never thought anyone would find out. I banked on my family's dysfunction." Proto looked back to the open door of the attic. "I didn't want him to find out this way."

"Proto, I don't think you have much control over that." Whisper said. "Not now anyway."

"And honesty I would have to agree." Another voice said as it joined the two as someone came around the corner. It was Lan.

"Lan how long have you been there?" Proto asked.

"Long enough, and don't worry I wasn't eavesdropping, Whisper wasn't the only one to figure it out. So this is what the visor's always been for, conceal the truth?"

"Yeah," Proto replied, "haven't you heard that the eyes are the windows to the soul?"

"You didn't want Chaud to see your soul?" Whisper asked.

"It's not that I didn't want him to know, I just didn't know how to tell him." Proto replied.

Lan and Whisper shared a glance; this was getting more interesting by the second.

* * *

"Protoman, but that's not possible, he was never human." Chaud replied.

"You mean he's never told you." Terra said, "look I know this is hard to believe, but he had to have been Chaud. Think about it, you already know that Mega and Lan are related and you know now that Whisper's really Skyler, just plug that into the equation it fits."

"You can't be serious." Chaud said as he tried to laugh, "there's never been any…"

"Proof?" Mega interjected, "we know, we didn't automatically believe that this was true either but it's the only thing that makes the riddle add up. Haven't you ever wondered why he never takes his visor off?"

Chaud was speechless for a second. Mega was right, he had always wondered why he hadn't ever seen Proto without his visor. Eight years and he hadn't seen his navis eyes. But he pushed that to the back of his mind. "this is insane," Chaud said, "he would have-"

"Told you?" Terra asked, "it doesn't always work that way, trust me I know"

"This is unbelievable, do you know how crazy this sounds-"

* * *

While all this was going on Proto, Whisper, and Lan were all still in the hall and they heard the conversation escalating. When Proto heard Chaud's voice he began walking towards the door.

'Proto what are you doing?" Lan and Whisper asked.

"I have to calm him down, he's stubborn enough, and that's when he not stressed. If he doesn't relax he won't listen"

* * *

"This is unbelievable, do you know how crazy this sounds-" Chaud stared to say…

"Chaud," Proto said his voice coming from the doorway. "Chaud you need to listen to them, they're not as off the mark as they seam."

"What are you saying?" Chaud asked, but there was no answer, Proto disappeared in a shower of pixels leaving Lan and Whisper to go find him.

"What's going on here?" Chaud asked.

"The truths finally coming to light," Terra replied.

"Not to mention that Regal's plan is coming together." Mega added.

"The truth about what?" Chaud asked deciding to ask one question at a time.

Terra decided to answer, both this question, and the one she knew was coming next. "The truth about our navis, the truth about out past, the truth about Proto, the truth about everything. Ever since the beginning Regal's been obsessed with us. First it was because six teenagers beat him but it's become more. Everyone's always thought that our strength came from our friendships, I mean what else would there be? But two people have always known or thought otherwise. Dr. Hikari and Dr. Regal. And Regal, he's dogmatic, he knew there was something that fueled the bond besides friendship, look at Misaki. He and Prismman are great partners but they couldn't hold crossfusion. It could only be held together by force and that was with the aid of a darkchip. I think that it takes a special kind of friendship if that's all you've got going for you; now we may have that but I think that our familial bond is what really makes us special. Regal knew there was something different about us and he wasn't going to let it go until he found out what it was, and somehow he did. He didn't have the privilege of finding out about Mega before Lan did, but he found out about Skyler and me and Proto and you. He knows what makes us so strong. In fact the only reason he probably even found out about the two of us is because he found out about Hub and Lan."

"And now he's trying to use that knowledge about us," Mega added, "turn the truth behind the strength into a weakness."

By this time Mega and Whisper had broken through Chaud's defenses. "So who is he, I mean he can't be my-" Chaud started then stopped before he went any further.

"Brother?" Mega asked finishing Chaud statement. "We have no idea who he is, all we know is that he was human. But he has to be someone close to you or Regal wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it."

"Well if it is true what's Regal trying to do?" Chaud asked.

"Like Mega said turn the strength into a weakness. Basically he's trying to tear us emotionally limb from limb with the truth, banking on out faults and pit us against people close to us which just happen to be major players in the net police organization. He's trying to distance Skyler and me from our father and you from Proto. If he can succeeded in that then the whole Dentech branch would fall."

"Regal's smart, I'll give him that that," Chaud admitted, "Because I can't see either you or Skyler instantly forgiving someone who fooled you into thinking that you hadn't seen you sister alive and then blocked Skyler's memories."

"You've got that right." Terra replied.

"So Regal's plan's working?" Mega asked as he cocked his eyebrows at Terra.

"No," Terra replied, "I may not be too fond of my dad right now but that's not going to make me quit being a netsaver of ignore his advice. I'll just have to take it with a grain of salt."

"So in short Regal's playing on our families dysfunction's?" Chaud asked.

"Seems so, but those are your words not mine, I'm not calling your family dysfunctional." Terra replied.

Chaud scoffed quietly to himself, it was then that he noticed his mom's hope chest.

"My mom's hope chest?" Chaud asked as he looked at the cherry wood box.

"Yeah, Terra figured this would be the only place where we could find any proof, your dad's files were swept clean." Mega commented.

Chaud continued to look at the chest. This was unbelievable it seemed nuts that Proto could have been human at some point and even crazier that he was related to him in some way. But as he ran the theory through his mind it sparked a memory, one from earlier that day. He recalled how Proto had reacted when Regal had smited him. That unreadable expression that had flashed across his face, maybe the thought that Proto had been human wasn't as nuts as it sounded.

"Look Chaud this is the only way we're ever going to find the proof to either support of shot down our theory." Terra said as she took a key and pressed it into Chaud's palm, "It would probably be for the best if you did this alone."

"Yeah, we'll wait outside, come on Terra," Mega said as he started to leave the room and motioned for Terra to follow him. Once they were out they both went down to the top step of the staircase and waited.

* * *

Chaud stood in the room key in hand. _"This is crazy," _he said to himself as he started to walk toward the door, then he stopped. He was running away, what was he so afraid of?

Chaud turned back and knelled in front of the chest inserting the key into the lock turning it until he heard it click, and opened the chest. The sent of cherry wood filled the air like a mist. The first thing that Chaud saw was a photo of him and his mom, a picture taken from a much happier time. Chaud picked up the fame and took it to a near by window so it could get some more light. As he turned the silver and white gold frame in the sunlight he noticed something, a shadow. Something was behind the picture. Chaud reached up to the top of the frame and slipped out the picture only to reveal another one behind it. This one had been taken five months before the other according to the date. But he didn't notice that, he only noticed that his mother was holding two children, himself and another boy. He didn't recognize the second child, but something about the boy seemed familiar. His mother must have tickling him because the child's eyes were glowing and it wore a huge smile. The picture was in back and white so he couldn't tell the color of his eyes but there was something he could tell. The child had snow white hair complete with black streaks. Out of shock Chaud's hand relaxed and the frame fell to the floor shattering the glass when it made contact. Once he regained his composure he reached through the glass and took the picture out from underneath. Looking at the back he noticed a note. One written by his mother:

First family photo, Emery 2 years, Chaud 1 year 9 months.

TBC


	10. Family Status Doesn't Come Without Cost

Chapter 10

Family Status Doesn't Come Without Cost

Chaud took in a shaky breath and slid his back against the wall until he was on the floor. It was true, Proto had to be his brother, his older brother, so that was why his navi always seemed to be so guarded sometimes. Besides him it always took a few months for him to accept someone, give or take a few depending on the person. It had taken Proto six months to get use to Mega and it had taken Chaud three times that length to accept Lan as a friend, they were polar opposites.

For most of his life Chaud had raised in a closed environment, Lan's had been open and full of love, give or take a few lies. After his mother died and his dad separated him from the few friends he did have it had been hard to let people in, especially Lan, he was so happy all the time, at first that had been annoying but it had ended up growing on him. But he had no idea that Proto had the same problem, he always thought that he was so _'cool'_ because of his personality program. He didn't know there'd been an underlying reason. No wonder they were so much alike.

As Chaud looked into the broken glass he noticed that something else was trapped underneath it, a folded piece of paper; when he opened it he noticed that it was a birth certificate. "Emery Tristan Blaze," Chaud whispered a he looked at the name. Chaud looked down at the key that rested on the floor, taking it into his hands he took it over to the chest and looked through it's contents until he unearthed what looked like a dairy. It was baby blue and decorated with silver ribbons. Chaud took the key and placed it in the lock. When the cover of the book fell open he instantly recognized the handwriting, his mothers, when he ran his fingers across the words the journal began to speak to him. His mothers voice filled the air telling her story…

_January 12, 2017_

_I'm pregnant, me, April Rae Blaze is pregnant; well sort of. I've been trying for two years and had remained disappointed, but now when I least expect it, I got one of the greatest oprotunties in the world. For years the medical field has been trying to perfect an artificial womb and finially one has been aprovred for use. Michael was able to pull some strings and got us to the top of the list; I feel a little guilty but I couldn't be more grateful. Hopefully this child will help my family and unlock my husband. Ever since Blaze Quest started to be a success he's disappeared, little by little my husband has become distant, burying himself in work. He says he's doing to for me, for us, for our family. That he doesn't want us to struggle. But I think he's being led astray, the company's taking first place and leaving me a distant second. He keeps reassuring me that he's doing what's best for us, but I have my doubts. I think he's loosing himself to the corporate world. _

The entry ended there. Chaud stared at his mother's words on the page. He didn't know that his father had started to change so soon. Chaud looked at another entry, flipping the pages he picked one randomly.

_February 29, 2017_

_It's a boy! Seeing the process was absolutely amazing, when the whole 'birds and bees' racket was completed the firtilized egg was placed in the artificial womb and has been growing ever since. It's an incredible sight to be able to see my child grow and change in all it's stages like on those posters that lined the walls in science class back in school. Now my baby is in it's first trimester and he's in perfect health. They say that he has a strong heartbeat, they call it strong and determined, so I guess he'll be a fighter. I've already picked a name. Emery. Emery Blaze. I don't have a middle name yet, I'll leave that to Michael. And I already know the name he'll pick. Tristan. It's always been his favorite Emery Tristan Blaze…_

Chaud paused for a moment before he skimmed over some of the other pages, they were all normal enough: his mother fixing up the nursery, stuff like that. That was until there was another enrty, one filled with shocked excitement.

_March 25, 2017_

_I'm pregnant. Pregnant. I still can't beleive it. When I first missed my cycle I thought it was just due to the excitement of Emery and preparing for his arrivial, but when it had gone past two weeks I got myself tested. And I'm pregnant. I'm only two weeks along but I can't beleive it. Once Emery's born it won't be but three months untill the arivial of this little boy or girl. It'll be like having twins! And isn't that how it always happens? Doctors constantly told me to relax, that as soon as I wasn't thinking about trying to have a child I'd conceive. Well I can't say that they were wrong. When I told Michael I thought that his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He's already lookinig for nannies but I don't want one. I want to raise my own children. I don't want them to become attached to anyone else besides me. I hear how women have kids that call their nannies and babysitters "Mom", I don't see how they can be ok with that. Why have a child if you're not going to be around to raise it?_

_June 12, 2017_

_It's a boy; again. I went to the doctor today for my check up and he told me that I have another little boy in my future. I couldn't be more happy. Although to be honest I think I would like to have a girl someday. But I'm just so greatful. I was beginning to think that I would never have any children that were of my blood but now I'm going to be blessed with two little boys that are going to grow up together side by side. If anything every happens to either Michael or me at least they'll have each other. I think I'm going to name him Chaud... _

Chaud smilled as he read the entry. It was bittersweet, he wasn't sopose to have grown up alone. Things should have been so different. As he looked back down at the journel he turned through the pages until he found the two entries he was looking for.

_September 30, 2017_

_Today was the day. Emery's birthday. It was all so odd. I always thought that the birth of my first child would be preceded by screaming and unbereable pain; but it was miraculous all the same. I was able to watch the doctors as they took him out it was all so simple; they just opened one of the hatches reached in cut open the sack and pulled him out. It all took less than 60 seconds and then I had him in my arms, a healthy, sreaming, baby boy. He's perfect, 10 fingers, 10 toes, georgous eyes, and oddly enough snow white hair. At first I thought it was red, but after the nurses took him away to give him a bath he came back with white hair. I asked the doctors about it, they think that it may be a side effect from the way he was guestated and some color may come in later but he's healthy otherwise...and you know what? I think I kind of like it anyway, he's my little platnium blond. The only thing that put a damper on today was that Michael wasn't here, he had to go on a buisness trip that he said he just couldn't miss. What could be more improtant than to be there for the birth of you first child? _

_Januaruy 5, 2018_

_Today was the day. Again. It was all the pain and screaming and happiness that I thought it would be; but thankfully it was over very quickly. The doctors said that they've only seen a few births that were so expedient. If you ask me I think Chaud Nathaniel was just impatient and excited to meet his brother. I don't think that any child anywhere in the world kicked as much as he did; and it only got worse after Emery was born, it was like he could sense that there was another little person out there. Thankfully Micheal was able to be here this time, he even cut the cord. Chaud looks so much like him, jet black hair, and deep saphire blue eyes. I can't wait to get him home. I can't wait to introduce him to Emery._

Chaud read through a few more entries listening to his mother's voice explaining the joys and pains of freshman motherhood. Like not geting any sleep. At all. And all in thanks to her two little 'vocal bundles of screams' as she so lovingly called them. She even gave some seroius thought to maybe getting that nanny after all but ultimatly rejected the idea saying that if she could get through this she could get through anything. He contunied to skip through the pages until he came across one that wasn't as happy as the rest. This one was filled with concern instead.

_April 29, 2018_

_Emery's sick. It was just the common cold but I took him the hospital anyway, and it's a good thing I did. Although Emery seemed to have been born complelty healthy it turns out that his being carried in an artificial womb left him with a weak immune system. Turns out that the vitimins, nutriennts, and antibodies he was exposed to there weren't as good as what he would have gotten if I had acturally carried him. So I'll have to stock up on the vitamin C. The doctors say that a suppressed immune system isn't that bad a thing as long as he doesn't catch a severe virus or bacterial infection, if that happened his system would be so weak while he was recovering that if another infection came along he'd have nothing left to fend it off with. They also suggest that in the future if Chaud were to get sick that it would be best that I seperate the two until he would no longer be contageous. I haven't even bothered to tell this to Michael, he's become more distant than ever. I was for sure that a child would bring him back to me, but it seems that it's just pulling him away. He even seems to care more for Chaud than Emery, he acts as if he's broken._

Chaud turned about 20 more pages

_October 2, 2018_

_I didn't think that it was possible but Michael's lost his mind. I could never have guessed that he's as far gone as he is. Ever since Emery was diagnosed with a supressed immune system he's been distant. Here and there, in and out like a flashlight that's batteries are low and is trying to stay on. When he came home today he asked of me the unspeakable, he wants to give Emery up for adoption. I asked if he were crazy, then he tried to explain his reasoning. Through all the fancy words and analogies it all came up to one thing: my husband is embarrassed by Emery, he feels as if he'll be a stain on what has become a respected name. That no one like him, a man in his position could be seen with a as he calls it; a handicaped child. He only seems to care about Chaud he consideres him perfect, as if Emery was just some lab experiment that went wrong. Michael's gotten so entangled with the company and all the false friends that've come with it. All with their views, and snobbish personalities, acting like they're better than everyone else. They've gotten to him. I know what's happened to my husband but I can only wonder will I ever see the simple, fun, loving and outgoing man I fell in love with again?_

_November 15, 2018_

_I set off with Emery this morning. Michael's made it clear that he doesn't want Emery for a son. Something that I still can't understand, but I'm not going to give him up. I love my son so I devised a plan. It was this morning that Micheal gave me the papers that would nullify our parental rights. He had already signed his and left mine on the nightstand as if he expected me to do it without a second thought. That was all I needed of him, with he having thrown away his rights Emery is all mine and he isn't going anywhere._

_ I sent Micheal's papers to the lawyer this morning with a letter and considerable tip to ensure his scilence to the fact that I didn't give him mine and took Emery to our new home; a cozy house in a quiet suburb on the other side of the city. Michael is gone so often and so long that he'll never know a thing, and by the time he finds out that Emery wasn't given up it won't matter. He wouldn't dare push me because I'd have no quams in going to the papers. My plan has been a total success, and as far as my husband is concerned, Emery's gone. But to everyone else, our family, the house staff, they know the truth. The only negative in this plan is that I have to leave Chaud at the mansion while I'm with Emery, and leave Emery with Anna, my bestfriend and most trusted employee when I'm home with Chaud. I want so much for them to be together but I can't take the chance that Chaud would say something to his father when he get old enough to. I'll just have to wait untill he's old enough to keep the secret._

_Everyone wants me to leave Michael but I still have hope and faith that I can get him to turn around, and since he's not violent there's no danger in me staying. The only regret that I have is that Emery will probably grow up without a father. Not that he'd ever have much of one at the rate that Michael is slipping._

Chaud looked up from the diary, this was something hard to believe, that his father could truly have been so cold. He then continued to read through more of the pages, Emery's first steps, his first steps, Emery's first words, and his first words. He went on until he found some words that made him stop. Entries of joy turned to one of concern.

_March 31, 2024_

_Michael's become suspicious, I don't know how he found out but he knows about the second house. For a second I thought that he knew about Emery too but it turns out he didn't. And since he has such great trust in me I was able to wriggle out of the situation. I told him that since he was always gone I had opened by own bakery so I'd have something else to do, so when he was gone I just lived there and gave the house staff time off. Which in it's self isn't a lie; I have opened a bakery. _

_It just hurts me so much that ever since the day Michael all but threw Emery away that he's never one spoken of him. It like he never existed to him. I still don't understand how he could have thought that Emery would be an embarrassment to him, he's been doing so well. He's managed not to get seriously sick, and he's so smart, he fixing to turn seven and he's at the top of his class. He asks about Chaud all the time, but surprisingly not his father. _

_Although he's never given any indication I think he knows that his father gave him up and that's one of the reasons that he's only seen Chaud a couple of times, because of the risk factor. The times that he has seen him was at the bakery when I took Chaud to work with me, and I introduced them. They got along fine, maybe too fine because when we were going home that day Chaud asked me about him, he wondered why they looked so much alike. Although that shouldn't surprise me, Chaud's sharp, he's just like his brother. I can probably tell him now, I think it's safe, and I want to, for his sake and Emery's. I don't want one to be without the other. I can see that it's hurting Emery that Chaud doesn't know who he really is._

_Not to mention that this song and dance is getting complicated. Chaud asks me where I go when I spend time with Emery. I tell him that I have to stay near the bakery somethimes, that I have so many orders I just can't make the commute. That's satisfied him for now but it won't for long._

A long past and dormant memories came up in Chaud's mind, he remembered that…

Chaud turned a couple of more pages.

_April 15, 2024_

_Emery's in trouble, he woke up this morning coughing, I wasn't very worried to start with, he's caught a cold before. But in no time Emery just got worse and worse, when fever hit 102 I rushed him to the hospital; it's the flu. After all the work I've done to protect him, he catches the flu. The doctors say not to worry, that his immune system is strong enough to handle the virus but that's not what I'm worried about. It's after, when his immune system will be weak, I'm afraid he'll catch something else._

_May 5, 2024_

_The worse thing possible thing happened, pneumonia, after all the precautions the doctors took they lost control of the virus and it's turned into pneumonia. _

_They haven't said anything to me since the diagnosis, they don't want me to know that I'll probably lose him, but I already know I probably will. The flu made his body so weak there's no way he can come over this too. He's so listless that he hasn't spoken in days, he's almost in a coma. Sometimes I think that it wasn't meant for him to live, he's been hit with so many hurdles in his short life, and it seams like death is finally going to claim him... But there may be a shimmer of hope. _

_There's a child in room 229 by the name of Hub Hikari, he's been in the hospital for a few months with HBD, an illness with no known cure. It always hurts me to see a family when their child contracts an untreatable disease, but it's going to be harder on this family in more ways than one. First of all the father is a scientist, one of the best and one of the most well known and respected in Japan and maybe in the whole world, and second, the child has an identical twin brother. So when the family loses the first, the second will always be a reminder of what they lost. But this family isn't planning on going through such pain. I was walking down the hall when I heard the father talking with his wife, now I never eavesdrop but what I heard caught my attention. _

_He said that he had found a way to save their son's life. That he had created a device that would capture and protect his sons consciousness at the time of death, so when his body died he could transfer their son's mind into the net and create him a new body out of data from his DNA. He asked his wife if this was something that she would want to do. She replied that she didn't want to loose her son. When Mr. Hikari came out of the room I was still outside frozen in place, he could help Emery! I've never asked hardly anything from anyone but I was asking now, the only words I could get out of my mouth were 'help me'. That was when his wife came to the door to see what was going on, when I got a better grip I apologized and I told them that I didn't mean to listen in but that I couldn't help to overhear, and that I was going to lose my son. _

_It was then that Mrs. Hikari recognized me, she asked how long had Chaud been sick, and I told her that it wasn't Chaud that I was going to loose that it was my first son Emery. I told them the whole story, how Emery came into the world and how Michael had managed to keep my pregnancy out of the media due to its unconvential method, all the way until he wanted to give him up and how I'd outsmarted him. And then after everything I had been through to keep him I was going to loose him. _

_That did it, that, won Haruka's sympathy, after all she was going through the same thing. She turned to her husband and asked if they could help me, Dr. Hikari replied that it was her decision. Then she went back into the room and brought back a device and asked me to show her to my son's room. When we got there she took the device and placed it on the back of Emery's neck and then handed me a blank PET. I really had to ask her was it that simple. She replied to me that it was. That this was all that she or I had to do, that the device would take care of the rest. She said that if Emery's body shut down that his mind and consciousness would be sent into the net and the devise would read his DNA turning it into a data code and create a second body in the net to match the original. She said that she knew what I was going through and that she was glad that she was able to help. When she left the whole thing seemed like it had been a dream, serial. But as I bent down to kiss my son goodnight it all came back. I wasn't going to loose my son. He was going to have a second chance._

_May 15, 2024_

_Emery died today, or at least that's what it says on his death certificate. I swear when I heard that sickening sound of that flat line I forgot about the gift I received from the Hikari's. I have to say when I heard Emery's voice coming over the PET two minutes later I was surprised for a second before it all came back. He was confused since the last thing he remembered was feeling lifeless and now all he was felling was energy. But I didn't have time to answer his questions then, the doctors and nurses came in to take care of the body. _

_It wasn't until I came home that night that I thought it might have been a mistake. Once I got home I connected the PET up to my husband's holographic generator, he uses it so he can talk personally to his navi's. When Emery materialized I told him what had happened, when he came for a hug he went right through me. When he looked back it seemed like it really hit him what had happened to him, he seemed scared, and then it hit me what I had done. I may have saved my son's life but I had just cut him off from the world, he couldn't touch me and I couldn't touch him. I started to cry. I asked him if I should have let him go. He said no, he was glad for what I did, but I'm not sure he said that because he felt that way of if he said that to help me._

Chaud put the book down. He didn't know that his mother had gone through so much. And he had no idea that Proto owed his life to Mega's death. They were all connected and all intertwined. When he looked back to the book he saw that there were only a few more entries talking about both Emery and his mother settling. Some even speaking about how it seemed that Emery was getting use to the change, because now he could be near his brother. As Chaud thought back he remembered feeling like someone had watched him for a while but being so young he had passed it off. After that the entries stopped. When Chaud looked at the date he noticed that it was around the time his mom had been diagnosed with cancer. She must have been so busy with doctors that she didn't have any more time for the diary. As he shut the book something fell out, it was an envelope with Emery's name on it, dated a few days before his mother died, when he opened it he found that it was a letter,

_Dear Emery,_

_Life never gives us break dose it? Either of us, after everything we've been through you'd think that we'd be given a chance. I hate leaving you alone Emery but I can't carry on this fight anymore, this cancer is aggressive and as much as I fight it, it's taking me away, but not my love, always know that I love you. And I have a favor to ask of you, I want you to look after your brother, besides me and a few other people he has no one, my dying will hit him hard. He'll need you. I've already arranged for you to be given as a gift to Chaud as a netnavi after my death. Believe me you'll need each other. I'll leave it to you to decide when to tell him who you really are, all he'll know about you to start with will be your name, Protoman (because you've always been so positive). So please watch after your little brother, and know that I'll always love you._

_To my dear Emery, with all my love,_

_Mom_

Chaud dropped the letter; he still couldn't fully believe it. Proto was his brother. He really was the soul in deep darkness; he had always been hidden by secrets and lies. Why after all these years hadn't he told him?

All of a sudden the attic walls seamed like they were closing in, he needed to get out. Chaud took the diary along with the letter and headed for the door. When he came out he noticed Terra and Mega waiting for him on the stairs. When they saw him they could see he was fighting back tears and that he was almost in a daze.

"Chaud what's wrong?" they both asked together.

"You know after all these years my life suddenly makes sense," Chaud replied, "you were right, both of you, he is my brother, my mom held the answers all along," Chaud continued as he pushed the diary into Terra's hands. "I have to talk to him," Chaud said as he headed down the stairs.

Terra watched Chaud leave in shock, she had never seen him that way.

"I've never seen him like this," Terra said as she started to follow.

"Terra wait," Mega said as he caught her arm, "he needs to do this himself."

"Like you let me do it on my own? Look I just can't let him go without some moral support." Terra said as she continued on her way leaving Mega to follow her.

* * *

When Chaud came out of the house he went back out to the courtyard where he found Proto along with Lan and Whisper, but he didn't care that the other two were there, he had something he need to say.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked once he had reached the group looking Proto in the eye as best he could. Whisper and Lan took this as their signal and got up and left, joining Mega and Terra on the back steps.

"Chaud I-" Proto started, then loosing his voice. He had been trying to prepare himself for this moment, but in that split second everything that he had thought to say vanished.

"I'm waiting," Chaud said.

Proto found his voice.

"Chaud you never knew you had a brother, you never even knew I existed, what would have been the point?"

"What's the point when people try to track down missing or long lost brothers or sisters, or when an adopted child tries to find their birth partners? It's because their family, Emery." Chaud said stating the name like it was a foreign language, "It's that simple. If you didn't notice Mom was the only family I ever had, when she died and Dad made us pick up and move I had no one. Terra, all my other friends, they were gone. It would have been nice to know that there was still someone there."

"I noticed it Chaud," Proto replied, "but if you didn't, Mom really was the only family I ever had, at least you had Dad, he never wanted me." Proto replied.

"Dad?" Chaud choked out, "Proto, Dad doesn't love me, he only respects me and that's as his business partner. He's never seen anything else in me other than someone to carry on the family name, an heir. But if you want to act this way fine, I shouldn't have to defend myself to you." Chaud said as he turned his back and began to walk away.

"Chaud wait!" Proto called.

"Why?" Chaud asked, "If all you have are excuses instead of reasons I'm not interested."

"Chaud," Proto called, but the duel haired teen didn't answer or stop, the lone navi watched him continue walking away until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

He sighed, after a few more seconds he made up his mind; he was ready, ready for this to be over and ready to make biggest decision of his life. He was going to let Chaud see him for who he really was. He went after Chaud and when he was sure he was out of the sight of his friends he slowly reached up and pulled off his shades.

Looking ahead he could see Chaud with his back planted firmly aginst the side of the house, eyes closed; he was shaking and Proto could see light glissen on his face as it struck the tears that were streaming down it. After a couple seconds Chaud's legs started to give and the boy slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground with his head between his knees.

Proto walked up to his brother slowly bearly making a sound until he was in front of him; he then kneeled until he was at eye level.

"Chaud?" Proto asked softly. "Chaud, look at me."

When Chaud still didn't respond Proto genlty took hold of Chaud head and pulled it up. "Chaud."

"Proto, I don't-" Chaud started when he abruptly stopped, Proto was looking directly at him, only not through his shades…

TBC


	11. Blaze, and a Dad Gone Wrong

Chapter 11

Blaze and a Dad Gone Wrong

"Proto I don't-" Chaud started to say when his head was pulled up, then he stopped, through his tears he could see that Proto was looking directly at him only, not through his shades…

Chaud was stunned; all of a sudden he found that he couldn't breath. Proto and he were truly face to face, Chaud was looking into a pair of eyes that almost mirrored his own. Without the air of mystery that the shades gave all that was left behind was a boy.

If he hadn't known it was Proto in front of him Chaud would have thought he was looking at a complete stranger, and yet he could see the resemblence, he was...family. Chaud also saw something in Proto he hadn't seen before.

Fear.

* * *

"Quick give me a piece of paper!" Tasha exclaimed when she saw the weak blip appear on her computer's monitor, repeating the numbers so she wouldn't forget.

"Here," Breeze replied as she grabbed a sheet out of a nearby printer, "are you sure it's them?" she asked.

"Positive," Tasha replied as she scrambled to get the numbers on paper then entering them into the computer's database, as she did so she accidentally hit a key on Breeze's keyboard which updated the profile of her new partners, this time bringing up their navis profiles. Her eyes stopped when they landed on Terra's profile. She noticed resemblance between her and her navi right away.

"Where are they?" Breeze asked unaware that her operator's attention had been diverted to what was now displayed on her screen.

"They're across town," Tasha replied slowly as her mind made it's way back to the present situation, she didn't have time to think about this.

"Are you ok?" Breeze asked not even bothering to look at her computer screen.

"Yeah come on." Tahsa replied as she grabbed Breeze and headed for the door.

* * *

Chaud continued to stare into Proto's eyes, or more correctly Emery's, he couldn't move.

"Chaud, the reason I never told you is I was afraid that you wouldn't accept me."

"So you'd rather be alone forever than taking a risk?" Chaud asked. "That doesn't sound like you."

"I'm more human than you give me credit for Chaud." Proto replied.

"Well actually you're more human than I ever thought you were." Chaud added with a smirk, "This changes everything doesn't it?"

"Not really," Proto replied, "it'll just make you look at things differently." Proto replied reflecting Chaud's expression.

* * *

Regal looked on with slight disappointment, he had hoped that Chaud and Proto would be at each other's throats by now, things had started out so well! But, the two had proved stronger than he thought, and it really didn't matter, he still had Terra and Whisper to rely on. After all they hadn't faced their father yet, and even though the two had a _'cool'_ exterior he knew it wasn't going to last. Not only that but he still had _phase 3_ to rely on, so today wasn't going to be a total loss, he was still going to have his fun…

* * *

"So are you ok?" Proto asked after he noticed that it seemed like Chaud had settled.

"Are you?" Chaud asked back.

"I'm fine as a person can be when they just spilled their heart out and they're under the control of a psychopath." Proto replied.

"Yeah, the same goes for me too." Chaud agreed, "You know we should probably get back, I'm pretty sure everyone else is wondering if we're ok."

"You're probably right." Proto said as he slipped his shades back on. When they turned the corner they found everyone else on the back steps right where they left them. When they walked up Terra was the first to speak.

"So are you guys ok?" she asked.

"We're fine as can be expected," Proto replied.

"Well, now that we've finally solved the riddle, you think Regal's going to let us go?" Lan asked.

"Well, Hikari that's actually the first worthwhile question you've asked all day." Regal's voice called out. Terra, Lan, Mega, and Whisper abruptly turned around, when they did they came face to face with him.

"So Regal, now that we've finished your test, which we passed with flying colors I might add, you going to let us go?" Proto asked.

"The test isn't over Emery, believe me, but sure, why not? After all, I'm a man of my word." The scientist replied snapping his fingers.

"Huh," Terra gasped as she shot up. When she took in her surroundings she noticed that she was in a makeshift lab along with Whisper, Lan, Mega, Chaud and Proto. Everyone was groggy and the wires that had once been connected to them had fallen to the floor.

"There's nothing like the rejoining of mind and body." Lan stated as he made the joke. Everyone laughed. Getting up Lan noticed all their PET's pefectly lined up on a table across the room, he quickly retreaved his and handed the other two to his friends.

"So, do you think he's going to let us out of here?" Whisper asked as she swung her legs over the side of her slab and stood up.

"Well there's only one way to find out." Mega replied as he gestured over to the closed door. Everyone looked at it for a second. Nobody moved.

After a few seconds Chaud moved from his place and slowly turned the knob of the door opening it. When nothing exploded everyone else moved from their places.

"Looks clear." Proto commented.

"Well there's only one way to test if it is." Lan added as he took the fist step through the threshold and to the other side. When everything seemed like it was ok everyone else followed.

"What do you know, Regal actually played semi fair for once," Whisper stated, but as soon as the words left her mouth the door slammed behind them and the sound of numerous distant locks being simultaneously turned could be heard.

"You just had to say something didn't you?" Terra asked as she glared at her sister.

"Oh don't blame your sister Terra, this was my idea," a familiar voice called out. When everyone turned to the source Regal stepped out of the shadows.

"You can never keep your word can you Regal?" Mega asked.

"My word?" Regal asked. "Boy, if you haven't noticed I'm evil, since when should my word be worth anything? Besides haven't your parents ever told you not to make deals with psychopaths?"

"Like we had a choice!" Lan exclaimed as he lunged at Regal only to have Mega hold him back.

"Tsk, tsk, temper, temper," Regal said as he addressed Lan. "You certainly have a job on your hands." Regal stated as he redirected his speech to Mega.

"Tell me something I don't know." Mega replied, "So now what are you planning to do?"

"Give you another test of course, I want to see if you can still survive in the real world. After all I needed to find someone to test my new and improved darkloids."

"And after that you'll let us go?" Terra asked.

"If you win." Regal replied.

"And if we loose?"

"If you loose, you loose."

"And how do we know that you'll let us go after this?" Whisper asked.

"You don't. But it's not like you have a choice in the matter, you're not getting out of here other wise." He said as his thrown descended from the ceiling and then taking him to his elevated region. "Let the battle begin."

As he spoke the groups attention was turned toward three doors that were opening around them, when the darkloids stepped out the six could tell they were going to have their work cut out for them…

* * *

"How close are we?" Tasha asked as she took a sharp turn around a curve almost becoming one with the pavement. She and Breeze were currently on her Vespa and they were heading toward the dead end of town.

"A few blocks." Breeze replied as she braced herself for the next turn.

"Did you send out the e-mails?"

"Written and sent," but I don't know if everyone is going to get here in time to be able to help." Breeze said. "They were further out than we thought, it's going to take them forever to get back here."

"Ok," Tahsa replied, "I just hope they can get here. _A__nd I hope we can get there in time." _Tasha though to herself_."I have a bad feeling about this."_

* * *

Mega, Lan, Proto, Chaud, Terra, and Whisper all stared at the darkloids that were steadily making their way towards them, Burnerman, Savageman, and Flashman, all glowing and pulsing in the darkness as multitudes of energy flowed through their bodies. It was then that Terra noticed that something was wrong.

"What..." She stated as she trailed off glancing from one darkloid to the other then to their surroundings. There were no rainbows on the walls, and yet the darkloids were there big as day. "Guys there's no dimentional area!" She exclaimed.

"So glad you noticed!" Regal replied. "After Shademan's failed assination attempt I scoured his corpse to find the source of his new found ability. Turns out your little friend Rush left behind an imprint. It didn't take long for me to track him down, learn his history and replicate his abilities. Just like you Terra. I granted these three with what I've coined spontanious materailzation."

She glared back.

"Besides you and your friends have to be itching to use your double-crossfusion in tandum with the materization program. This will be your first time _really_ using it, would it not?"

Terra didn't answer, she didn't need too, instead she turned her attention to her sister.

"I'm just going to throw this out there as a guess, but those are some of the guys that have been reinforced with our power aren't they?" Terra asked.

"Yep." Whisper replied.

"So this is double bad."

"Yep."

"Guys there's nothing to worry about, we've taken down these clowns before, we can do it again." Proto said as he prepared for the coming battle, drawing his sword.

"You're right." Terra replied as she mimicked his action along with everyone else; she, Lan and Chaud activating the double crossfussion.

"Yeah," Lan added, "it's time to take out the trash!"

"Yeah you! Burning jet!" Burnerman exclaimed as he sent out his inferno toward the group, he had grown impatient with no one making a move.

"So what's the plan?" Mega asked as he and everyone else dodged the firecrackers attack.

"Chaud and me can handle this yahoo, you guys take the other two." Proto stated.

"Got it," the other four replied as they took off. As Chaud watched them go he noticed that each pair's glow was increasing, their synchro levels were obviously skyrocketing. He looked at the aura that surrounded him and his brother, although it wasn't dull by any means it wasn't as luminous as Lan and Mega's or Whisper and Terra's, compared to the four of them he and Proto were disconnected.

"Jumping claw! Neon lights!" The individual attacks from the darkloids overlapping as they made them.

"Mega buster! Whispershock!" the four net savers replied sending out their own attacks making sure to divide their counterparts. After all isn't there a rule that says to divide and conquer? Once they succeeded in making the split Mega and Lan were squaring off with Flashman and Terra and Whisper had Savageman.

"Looks like you made the wrong choice." Savageman said as he squared off with the two girls remembering the fact that he was the one darkloid that could rattle Whisper. "It'll be a piece of cake taking you out."

"I'd rework that statement if I were you," Whisper replied taking her stance. "You see I'm not afraid of you anymore. I just realized that you're not a monster, you're just a hideous freak."

"Tough words, lets see if you mean them Skyler!" Savageman exclaimed as he charged the metallic navi.

"Wide sword!" Whisper called out as she received the blade and put it up for defense blocking Savageman's claws as he made his attack. Terra just stood back, she obviously wasn't going to be a part of this battle, whatever was going on it was between her sister and the darkloid.

* * *

"Burning Jet!" Burnerman exclaimed as he sent his inferno toward Proto and Chaud.

"Sonic Boom!" they both replied sending out the multi wave response hitting the fiery blaze and causing it to fizzle out.

"Pretty good, looks like you've been working out, but so have I!" Burnerman said as he started another attack. "Fire sword!" He called as he sped toward Proto knocking Chaud aside in the process. "Step aside little bro and let the big boys play," Burnerman continued as he started to parry with Proto.

"So you know?" Proto asked.

"Sure do Emery." Burnerman smirked as he made an impromptu slash, one which Protoman easily dodged, and only barely bringing his own sword up in time to miss Proto's strike. "I want to see if the elder Blaze is really worth his family name." He said as he made another move.

"Chaud you might want to stay out of this, I can handle this clown." Proto said as he brought up is sword in defense.

"Stay out?" Chaud asked, "What am I suppose to do?"

"Anything you want shrimp just stay out of the fight." Burnerman said as he struck Proto. "You might want to pay attention, mustn't get distracted."

"I know." Proto replied when Burnerman went in for another strike and ended up being struck instead.

Chaud watched the older two in disbelief, while Proto defended his ego what was he suppose to do? Just stand there? He stayed in that state until he noticed Terra sitting on some crates above him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he approached her.

"Sitting." Terra replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Obviously joining you." Chaud said as he sat next to the girl. "I just got kicked out of my first battle."

"Me too." Terra replied. "Whisper didn't tell me to my face but I could kinda tell she wanted to do it alone. Unknown to me she and Savageman have something going on. So why'd you get the boot?"

"Pride." Chaud replied. "Burnerman insulted Proto, at least Lan and Mega have some partnership going." Chaud observed as he watched the other two teens.

"Neon lights!" Flashman shouted as he sent his electrified attack toward the two boys.

"Ready for some serious action Mega?" Lan asked.

"You know it."

"Then lets go." Lan replied. "Hero sword!" he exclaimed, when he received the blade he slashed the attack in half allowing Mega to jump up from behind coming down unexpectedly on the darkloid.

"Custom sword!" The blue navi called out as he came down hitting his mark shattering the shield on Flashman's right arm.

"Nice job ghost boy." Flashman replied as he slid back, "Let's see if you can keep it up, headlights!"

* * *

"Jumping claws!" Savageman exclaimed again as he flew toward Whisper.

"Knight sword!" Whisper counteracted as she flipped over the beast and cracking her blade down on Savageman shattering the claws on both hands.

"You're going to pay for that girl." Savageman stated as he turned around.

"Make me big bad and ugly" Whisper replied.

"RRRHAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Savageman roared as he speed toward Whisper readying himself to make his attack.

"Phaser!" Whisper called out once Savageman reached her causing him to pass cleanly through, materializing her sword she sliced and diced him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Savageman screamed out in surprise, "How could you do that?" he started to say as he was engulfed by his own power that was now flowing from within him. When he came to his climax it was like a supernova, sending his massive energy expanding outward as he was deleted. It was enough force to slam Whisper into the closest wall. Once it was all over though a familiar dark cackling could be heard.

"Thought you could get rid of me that easily did you?" the voice asked, "Well think again!" when the voice's silhouette emerged from the smoke Whisper could see it was Spikeman. "You have to love Regal." Spikeman continued, "This emulating program is great it's like having nine lives! And as for you, your life is looking incredibly short." Spikeman said as he stiffened his glare, trading out his right hand for one of his spikes electrifying it until it crackled and popped.

Whisper tried to get up and get into her battle stance but she found that she couldn't move.

"Oh what's the matter?" Spikeman asked, "Did that little bump jar your programming? Oh well to bad and so sad!" he continued as he raised his arm to make his move…

"Don't think so bozo! Whispershock!" Terra replied as her attack suddenly came out of nowhere.

"And take this, Sonicboom!" Chaud added as his attack did the same as Terra's hitting their mark knocking Spikeman back giving Whisper time to recover.

"Thanks," she replied as she got back to her feet when Chaud and Terra landed beside her.

"No problem." Terra replied, "What good would I be if I couldn't dive in and rescue you at the last second?"

"Oh that's so sweet, a tinder moment between sisters, that makes me sick!" Spikeman spat out as he rose once more. "Hummmmmm..." he said as he observed his current situation. "Three against one is hardly fair, lets see if I can level the playing field, shadowmaker!" the darkloid exclaimed as he shined the light on himself making a copy. "Take care of the red one for me will ya?" he asked as his shadowy double came into focus. The shadow nodded in reply before shooting toward Chaud forcing him to break from the two girls. "Well I hope he's not afraid of shadows." Spikeman stated.

"Oh what's it going to take to put you guys down and make you stay there?" Terra asked as she activated a wide sword.

"Well bring it on and lets see." Spikeman replied.

* * *

"We're here, hit the breaks!" Breeze exclaimed once she noticed that they were right on top of where the team's signal had last come from.

"The old subway?" Tasha asked as she observed where they were. "Regal's done something different. I was expecting a warehouse." She said as she killed the engine.

"Well Regal may be old, but it think this dog has some new tricks." Breeze said as she got off the scooter.

"Ok this place would have to be on my top ten list of everything creepy." Breeze commented once they were inside the old underground station.

"You're telling me." Tasha agreed when she heard a distant thundering. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Yeah." Breeze replied. "Kinda sounded like a omega spread coming down."

"We must be getting close then, come on." Tasha said as she turned down the hall that the echo came from.

* * *

"OMEGA ARROW!" Spikeman called out as he received the large bow and arrow and released the attack.

"Oh I hate it when darkliods get their hands on new toys!" Terra exclaimed as she watched the shot coming right at her.

"You're telling me, life aura battle chip in!" Whisper agreed throwing up the barrier to block the attack, but the omega spread was much more potent than expected and although the life aura shielded the energy it wasn't enough to keep it back, once it broke through the blast sent Terra and Whisper flying…

* * *

"So how dose it feel that your dad didn't find you worthy enough to carry on his family name?" Burnerman asked as he kept up the fight as well as the taunting.

"Sorry, I don't confide in darkloids." Proto said as he swung at Burnerman but missed as the darkloid sidestepped the blow. Quite shockingly Burnerman was pretty skilled.

"Oh but you should it's so rewarding!" Burnerman exclaimed as he made a decisive strike hitting his mark cutting Proto's arm causing him to recoil and at the same time trip over a metal rod that had been left on the abandoned subway floor. "Why don't you let the world see you for who you really are!" Burnerman exclaimed again as he made another articulated slash, this one coming across Proto's face causing the helmet and visor to shatter…

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAHAH" Chaud roared as he and Spikeman's shadowy clone spared and parried. By now Chaud was exasperated. He didn't have time to play with Spikeman's puppet but he was having to duke it out because he couldn't shake him.

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAH" he yelled out once more as they crashed sword against spike. Chaud mustered up all his strength as he pushed them apart, he being pushed into the darkness of the room and the shadow into one of the few beams of light that were supplied by a few chandeliers. Once it hit the shadow it seemed to begin to melt, unable to move, paralyzed, until it evaporated into nothing.

Chaud at a loss as he walked over to the place where the shadow had been not seconds before. It seemed almost unreal that such a formidable opponent could be taken out so easily. But this shock only lasted until he caught a fluid movement from the corner of his eye. When he turned around he could see Burnerman deal a blow directly to Proto's face…

* * *

As Proto fell to the ground the shattered visor and helmet fell around him, that along with his long hair pixelated out within seconds, leaving behind the average upturned snow white hair cut with jet-black streaks that he had in his human form. When Proto looked up Burnerman was met with a pair of flashing azure eyes glaring up at him. A pair identical to Chaud's.

Whisper and Terra who had been sent skidding across the floor witnessed the event too. Coming to a halt they had both caught sight of the same fluid motion Chaud had. Turning around to get a better view everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the helmet that had hidden Proto's identity for so long came crashing down.

"OMG…" Whisper breathed as she took everything in being fully entranced by his flashing azure eyes.

Terra looked on equally captivated, only unlike her sister she wasn't crushing, "Wow." She commented. "He really is a Blaze."

"Oh girls, what's the first rule that a netsaver learns?" Spikeman asked as he came up behind them.

"That you mustn't get distracted." Whisper replied as she leapt up from the ground in a swing kick, kicking Spikeman dead in the crotch.

"Ice ball battle chip in." Terra said as she got to her feet tossing the small bomb up and down in her hand watching Spikeman doubled over.

"And do you know the second rule is?" she asked, when she received no answer she continued. "Don't get cocky." She said as she threw the ice ball instantly freezing Spikeman from head to toe.

"Spikeman logging out."

* * *

"Headlights!" Flashman exclaimed as he generated the attack focusing enough light and glare to blind both Lan and Mega, that was until…

"Dark matter, battle chip in!" Two unfamiliar voices called out, dark swirls of matter engulfed Flashman relinquishing his attack, not only that but since he was a navi whose own power had been reflected back to him… well you get the picture.

"Flashman logging out."

When the two strangers landed beside them Lan and Mega recognized one of them right away.

"Tahsa what are you doing here?" Lan asked, Mega kept silent, after all he had a cover to keep.

"Saving your butt what's it look like?" The girl replied. "That, and I've been assigned to your team. Interesting thing you've got going here. No dimentional area and yet - darkloids?"

"Great." Lan replied as he drug out the word, his voice void of any enthusiasm. He was not happy to see her. "It's Regal's newest thing: spontaneous materialzation. So who's your navi?" He asked when he noticed the other girl, Tasha was kinda standing in front of her so he couldn't see.

"Oh this is-" Tasha started as she stepped aside to introduce her.

"Annalynne?" Lan and Mega asked at the same time when they recognized the girl. Mega stepped from behind Lan as he did so.

"Never mind." Tahsa said mostly to herself. How did she think she was going to fool Lan anyway? She then took notice of the boy's netnavi, instantly recognizing him too.

"Hub?" Breeze and Tasha asked in the same way when they saw him.

"But you're dead!" All four teens stated at the same time, one pair referring to Mega and the other to Breeze.

"Oh how nice a little friendly reunion, too bad you won't be able to enjoy each others company, METOR!" a voice exclaimed as an attack suddenly came from nowhere catching all four netsavers off guard. The blast just missed them but they were knocked back by it's sheer force all the same. As Tahsa flew back and hit the ground Terra's locket that she had around her neck came off of her breaking through her crossfusion, its chain snapping from the sudden movement. Not only that but it fell open, when it stopped spinning and came to a stop it was opened directly on Terra's family photo. Tahsa's eyes widened, it all made sense, both she and Breeze had been right…

"Ice ball, battle chip in!" two voices called out that neither Breeze or Tasha recognized, the mini bomb hit Novaman out of the blue.

"AAAAHHHHGGGGRR!" A girl yelled as she came down on the frozen Novaman kicking the ice sickle shattering the ice and Novaman with it. It was Whisper and Terra.

"Novaman logging out." the computer voice called.

"Well that was easy." Whisper said once she came down.

"Yeah, we should do them in that way more often." Terra chucked as she turned around noticing the new comers.

"Hi." Tahsa and Breeze said together.

"Hi." Whisper and Terra replied, confused to see them there.

"Ok, this is a little awkward." One of the girls admitted. "I'm Tasha." The girl said further introducing herself. "Tahsa Vasari. and this is my navi Breeze." She said pointing to the red head. "We're your new partners."

"Yeah, unfortunately." Lan added as he picked himself off the ground.

"You know them?" Terra asked.

"Old friend." Lan replied, "Or rather fiend."

"Fiend?" Whisper whispered as she helped Mega up looking to him for an explanation.

"She was an old childhood friend, goes further back than Maylu." Mega whispered back. "Lets just say that she and Lan were a little competitive. Not to mention they're both the babys in the family. If they did anything together they often needed a referee. Most of the time it was me."

"So she recognize you?" Whisper asked.

"Yep."

"Are you going to have to explain the whole thing over again?"

"I don't think so." Mega replied. "I have a feeling she understands."

Whisper gave Mega a confused look but didn't press any, she figured she'd get the answers soon enough.

"Oh." Terra replied, although she couldn't hear Mega and Whisper's inside conversation she could kinda tell the two must have had something between them. "Well I'm Terra Javedson and this is my navi Whisper."

"Hi." Whisper added with a short wave.

"I know." Tasha replied. "The chief told me all about you guys, they're all looking for you, we were just fortunate to notice your signal, it was pretty faint."

"So we're going to have some backup?" Mega asked.

"We're not sure," Breeze replied, "When we e-mailed everyone else the coordinates they were all pretty far away, and we don't know how far out they were."

"Well in any case it's nice to meet you." Whisper added."You must be pretty smart to get past Regal."

"Maybe, but I have a feeling he let us in. It was too easy getting down here." Tahsa replied.

"Let you in, why?" Lan asked.

"Who knows." Tasha said back.

"You guys ok?" Terra asked as she looked at the four giving them a good look.

"Sure why?" Lan asked.

"I don't know." Terra replied. "It just looks like you've all seen a ghost."

* * *

"Well, well, well," Burnerman said, "we finally get to see the man behind the mask, funny though, I never pictured you to look like this."

"Like what?" Proto asked.

"For one thing I pictured you to have darker hair." Burnerman replied as he changed his sword preparing to bring it down on Proto. "But in a second it won't matter."

"I'd disagree." Proto replied as he accessed his default sword bringing it up in defense, but he soon found himself loosing ground, the whole day was taking its toll, the battling and the high stress had drained him more than he thought.

"Well, looks like someone's enery's draining." Burnerman said when he noticed Proto's arms start to give. "Never thought I'd see the day when you would loose a battle and never thought I'd be the one to claim the victory."

"Your intuition was right, you're not, Z cannon!" Chaud's voice rang out as the hot plasma flew through the air striking Burnerman and knocking him into some crates.

"You're going to pay for that!" Burnerman exclaimed once he got to his feet.

"I don't think so." Chaud replied, "I'd look up if I were you."

When Burnerman looked up he noticed that the crates he had slammed into had become unsteady and were going to topple over. Frozen, he didn't move when they fell.

"Burnerman logging out."

"Thanks," Proto stated when Chaud helped him back to his feet.

"Don't mention it." Chaud replied.

The commotion caused by Chaud and Burnerman's confrontation had grabbed the rest of the gang's attention. When they looked Chaud and Proto's way Lan and Mega caught site of Proto for the fist time.

"Whoa." Lan commented when he saw Proto's azure eyes and short white hair.

"Didn't expect him to look like that did you?" Terra asked.

"That would be an understatement." Lan replied as he continued to look.

"Just make sure you don't stare, it's rude." Mega added.

"Bravo, seems like I have some more work to do on my darkloids." Regal's voice commented as his elevated thrown came down and he stepped off.

"Now what do you want?" Mega asked as the whole gang congregated together.

"What? I can't give a complement?" Regal asked as he walked closer.

"No." Terra replied getting right to the point.

"And you're right," Regal replied, "But believe it or not I am giving you a complement, you should take it. I see you've found the fourth soul, or more correctly she found you." Regal said as he looked at both Tasha and Breeze. "I was wondering how long it would take."

"Fourth soul?" Chaud asked, it was then that he noticed the two new girls.

"Yes," Regal continued, "I'd like to introduce you to Tasha Vasari and her cousin Annelynne Vasari, aka Breeze EXE."

"Cousin?" Whisper asked as she glanced at Breeze no wonder Mega said that Tahsa understood his situation.

"Yes," Regal continued, "You're looking at the daughter and niece of Dr. Hikari's high school sweetheart, the name Raeann doesn't ring a bell to you Terra? She was just as much a friend to the good doctor as your father. Terra rolled her eyes at the mention of her father.

"Oh I forgot, you don't want to think of him rite now. But as I was saying, Breeze's family story is quite sad, it may be more of a tear tugger than either of yours. Her parents died in a car crash when she was just 14 months old. After that Tasha's mother took her in and raised her like her own daughter.

Tasha and Breeze grew up like sisters rite here in Dentech, and lived next to the Hikari's until they were of the age of four. Then they moved to Tokyo. Yes, their lives were perfect until six years later when Breeze developed leukemia. When Mrs. Vasari saw that she was going to loose her whose shoulder dose she go to, to cry on other than her good friend Yuuchiro Hikari.

And guess what? Unlike the three of you the fact that Breeze's life had been saved was never hidden from Tasha, she knew from the very start. There were never any lies.

So Breeze how dose it feel to know that you're not the only freak out there? Your new partner's navi's are just like you."

Breeze didn't reply, she was almost in tears and only stared.

"Are you done?" Mega asked through clenched teeth feeling the girl's pain.

"I'll never been _done, _Hikari, but you can leave at any time." Regal stated as you could hear all the locks opening as well as one of the doors.

"You're free to go." He continued giving the group a challenging look, almost daring them to leave.

"Come on guys, let go," Proto said as he began to walk toward the door. This time there were no tricks. Being the last one out Terra looked back and could just make out Regal's outline in the darkness.

Regal continued to look at the group that had just expanded to eight leave. Everything was going according to plan…

* * *

"I can not believe that we just walked out of there and let Regal go!" Lan exclaimed once they were above ground.

"Lan what did you expect us to do? We're all tired, if we got into another confrontation with him he would have won. We're worth nothing right now. I hated to let him go too but we didn't have a choice." Proto commented.

"I know." Lan agreed begrudgingly. "But it still feels like he got off scot-free."

"You're not the only one that feels that way, Lan." Mega added.

"You've got that right." Chaud, Whisper and Terra said together.

Tasha looked at the group, she knew they probably weren't in the mood to answer any questions but she was curious.

"Um, I hate to interrupt and I know you guys probably don't want to talk about this right now but what did Regal want with you guy's anyway?" Tasha asked.

"In short, head games." Terra replied, "Somehow he found out that we were all like you. Someone who had someone close to them die and then be saved at the last second by being turned into a netnavi.

He was trying to use the circumstances around that against us, trying to distance us from people in the net police organization who each played a role. He wanted to split us up."

"So each of you have an undead sibling?" Breeze asked referring to Chaud and Terra. "I already know about Hub. I remember when he died." Breeze said.

"Yeah, us," Whisper replied pointing to herself and Proto, "Some of us knew about it and some of us didn't. I did in the beginning but Terra never knew I was still alive until she saw me one night. When she did our dad convinced her what she had seen was a dream and then he blocked my memories. A few months ago though Terra was able to truly realize that what she had seen was real. Lan was lied to for eight years and Chaud never knew. That's what made Regal's plan seem like it would so effective."

"Wow, I'm sorry I had no idea." Both Breeze and Tasha replied their voices overlapping.

"Thanks," Whisper replied, "Just be glad your life isn't as complicated, welcome to the team."

* * *

_"Sky are you ok?"_ Terra asked her sister mentally. Chaud had called a car and they were now on their way back to Scilab. Everyone wanted to go home, but they had sent everyone e-mails telling that they were ok, and they all knew that the chief would want them to check back in.

_"As ok as a girl can be in this situation."_ Whisper replied. _"Why?"_

_"You're tense."_

_"Well of course I'm tense, I'm fixing to face my father for the first time in five years, what would you expect?"_

_"You're not going to go off on him are you?"_ Terra asked slightly concerned.

_"I don't know, I've tried to push this whole thing into the back of my mind, give me time to calm down but I can't. He deserves to have someone go off on him."_

_"If you do it could compromise everything, especially if Manuela and the Chief are there."_

_"Well it's not like I'm going to yell and scream at him or anything but if I don't release this stress soon I'm going to explode. Tell you what if either Manuela or the Chief are there I'll keep my mouth shut, internalize my feelings, and get an ulcer the size of Cleveland, that is until I tell Mom."_

_"You can't get ulcers."_

_"You get my point."_

_"What about Famous?"_

_"Well he's younger than everyone else and less prone to judge. But if he's there I won't say anything either. So do we have a deal?"_

_"Deal."_ Terra replied just at the limo came to a stop.

"Master Blaze, we're here." The driver said.

"Thanks John." Chaud replied as he opened the door and everyone got out with Whisper taking the lead once they approached the building.

"Well someone's in a awful hurry." Lan commented when he saw her get inside the door a good five seconds ahead of them.

"Well she should considering she's going to get a few things off her chest." Terra replied.

* * *

Whisper steadied her pace as she made her way down the hall. She had tried to calm down, she really did, it just wasn't going to happen. When she came through the automatic doors into the lab she was met with two relieved faces: Dr. Hikari's, and her father's. Her dad was the first to approach her.

"Oh Whisper thank goodness your ok." He said as he trapped her in a huge hug, "Is everyone else all right?" He asked.

"Yeah everyone else is fine." Whisper replied. "I think they're just dragging their feet because they think your going to put us through a lot of tests."

"What wrong?" Dr. Javedson asked as he looked at the girl's face noticing that it seemed like something was bothering her.

"Oh, I was just wondering why it seemed like you cared about me so much just now. I mean I'm just your daughter's netnavi." Whisper replied setting the doctor up.

"Oh, Whisper you're more than that, you're part of the family, you're almost like a second daughter to me, you know that."

"But I'm not your daughter am I?" Whisper asked.

"No of course not-" Dr. Javedson began to say when he stopped, noticing that a scrawl had made it's way across Whisper's face.

"You are such a liar." Whisper said as she dragged out every word.

"What?" Dr. Javedson asked as he started to go pale.

"Dad I know the truth." Whisper replied watching the color drain from her father's face. "What's the matter? Don't remember me?"

TBC


	12. Woven

Chapter 12

Woven

"Get a couple things off her chest?" Mega asked, "you can't possible mean-"

"That's exactly what I mean." Terra interjected.

"What in front of everyone?" Proto asked, "You do know what'll happen if the wrong person hears that don't you?"

"Yeah, I know, moral quagmire, and that's why I tried to dissuade her, but she's set in this, she's not going to change her mind. She said that if Manuela or the chief were there that she'd wait, even Famous."

"You really hold her to that?" Chaud asked.

"Hopefully," Terra replied. "What other choice do I have?"

* * *

"I can not believe you." Whisper continued when her father remained speechless, "were you ever going to tell me, or were you going to let me walk around an amnesiac for the rest of my life?"

"Skyler I-" Dr. Javedson started when Whisper cut him off.

"You know what, I don't want to hear any of your excuses," Whisper said, "And do you know what the worse part of this is? I actually have to have Regal to thank for getting my memory back, if you had anything planned for me to do it can wait until tomorrow." Whisper said as she turned around and headed for the door. When it opened she saw Terra, Lan, Mega, Chaud, Proto, Tasha and Breeze all in the hall, she took one look at them and kept on walking.

When Terra looked back into the lab she saw her dad start to come toward her. "Don't even bother." Terra said as she turned her back and walked away as well leaving the rest of the gang not sure what to do.

"You guys should probably go home and get some rest," Dr. Hikari said taking control of the situation. "Don't worry about coming back tomorrow."

"Ok," the whole group replied gratefully as they left.

Once Dr. Hikari was sure they were gone he turned to Dr. Javedson, "Jonah, what did you do?" he asked.

* * *

"Skyler wait!" Terra called as she tried to catch up with her sister, "Sky, I'm in good shape I can keep up with you!" she called again once she reached her. Whisper stopped when she did.

"He doesn't care," Whisper said, "I told him that I knew and he had nothing to say."

"Did you ever think that maybe he was surprised?" Terra asked.

"Since when are you on his side?"

"I'm not on his side," Terra replied, "I'm just stating the obvious."

"So now what do we do?"

"I don't know-" Terra started to reply when she was cut off.

"Terra, Whisper, wait up!" two voices called out, when both girls turned around they saw Mega and Lan trying to catch up with them. "Thanks," they said simultaneously once they reached them.

"So are you guys ok?" Mega asked as the group started to walk.

"I guess," Whisper replied, "as ok as anyone can be anyway."

"Where's everyone else?" Terra asked.

"Home or going home," Lan replied, "there was no point in sticking around once you guys left, dad said we could leave, we don't even have to come in tomorrow. I think he knows we need the time off. Oh, and before I forget here." Lan said as he reached in his pocket and handed Terra her locket. "Seems like when Regal took us you lost this, Tasha found it."

"I hadn't even missed it. Thank you." Terra said as she reached for it and put it around her neck.

"Well that's good," Whisper replied, "I don't think I could take another practice after today."

"So what are you two going to do now?" Mega asked.

"Go home." Whisper replied.

"That isn't exactly what I was asking." Mega admitted.

"You mean about our mom?" Terra asked, both Mega and Lan nodded in answer. "We don't really know, we want to tell her but this whole situation is just so awkward. We're not really sure how we want to go about it."

"Are you absolutely sure that your mom doesn't know what happened?" Lan asked.

"Well sure, I mean reason would she have had not to say anything in all these years?" Whisper asked.

"We don't know, I guess that would be a question you'd have to ask her." Mega replied.

* * *

"Chaud are you ok?" Proto asked, on the ride home he had become uncharacteristically quiet.

"Yeah, he replied, "I was just thinking about Mom and how she kept the secret for so long, it must have been hard on her."

"Not really, a lot more people knew than you think," Proto replied, "what really hurt her was having to keep it from you."

"Who?" Chaud asked.

"The whole house staff knew."

"Oh yeah," Chaud said as he remembered the entry from the diary, "I forgot about that."

"Now what is it?" Proto asked when Chaud got oddly quiet again.

"Nothing really, I guess everything with Regal just reminded me how much I missed Mom. I still miss her."

"You're not the only one." Proto added.

* * *

"I wonder what Terra and Whisper are doing right now." Lan said as he sat in his computer chair at his desk. Both he and Mega had made it back home, much to the gratitude of their mother that they were safe.

"Who knows, they could be doing almost anything." Mega replied as he sat across from him on the bed. "What I want to know is what Dad's doing right now."

"Probably still chewing out Dr. J," Lan replied as he looked over at the clock seeing that it was now 10:45 pm., "he's been at it for a while."

"Yeah," Mega agreed also taking notice of the time, "and we should be getting to bed."

"Why?" Lan asked, "tomorrow's Sunday, it's not like we have anything to do, we don't even have practice."

"That's not the point, it's the principle," Mega replied as he grabbed one of the pillows off Lan's bed and threw it at him.

"Well fine then, get out," Lan replied as he grabbed hold of the pillow and threw it back.

"Well this is a nice change," Mega said as he easily caught the projectile, "You're actually listing to me for once."

"Yeah well don't get use to it," Lan replied, "I just realized that I was dead on my feet, but I can't go to sleep with you looking at me so get outta here."

"I use to look over you all the time."

"Yeah, I know," Lan replied, "but back then I could put you in stasis mode to make you quit, now get out!" Lan said as he grabbed a nearby CD case and chunked it at Mega.

"Fine," Mega replied as he dodged the case and got up from the bed and walked over to the door that led to the a joining bedroom opening and closing it before Lan had the chance to throw something else. Turning around he looked at the room that had recently become his own again. About a month after Lan had found out about him their mom had gone a little crazy for a minute and had updated it for him. At first it was strange sleeping in a bed and not a PET, he had done it to begin with to please his mom, but then he soon found himself graduating to the routine, after that it had become second nature. Sometimes it seemed like the past eight years hadn't happened, that he was still human, but as soon as a fuse box blew or a dimensional area appeared, the classic signs of a darkloid attack, that feeling would vanish. Although he wasn't fully a navi he wasn't fully human either. His thoughts continued to bounce back and forth until he lost track of time, he was only brought back into the real world when his dad came home.

"Hub, you're still up?" Dr. Hikari asked as he opened the boy's door.

"Oh," Mega replied as he looked at the clock noticing that it was past midnight, "I guess I just lost track of time, you're home awfully late."

"I had a pretty long talk with Whisper and Terra's dad." Dr. Hikari replied, "I had no idea what he did to those girls. He said what he did he did he did out of desperation at the time, that he was afraid that Terra might say something in front of the wrong person, and that a moral quagmire would follow. But that's still no excuses. Just like it's no excuse what I did."

"Dad it's ok," Mega replied, "both Lan and I have put that all into the past, we've forgiven you."

"I know you have," Dr. Hikari replied, "But all of this with Jonah just reminded me what you and I haven't spoken about. Lan brought it up right away but you never have."

"Dad, it's ok we don't have too-" Mega started to say but he was cut off.

"But we do Hub, I don't want 20 years to pass and have you start to harbor resentment, because of something you never expressed now. I don't want my relationship with you to get as rocky as Jonah's is going to be with Terra and Skyler. I want you to tell me what you felt all those years." Dr. Hikari asked as a silence began to form.

"Loneliness," Mega replied breaking it pouring our his heart, crossing some invisible barrier he had put up sometime in his past, "that's what I felt. For five years I was by myself, it's not that I didn't like having you around it was just that I missed everyone else, Mom, Lan, Maylu. All those years it seemed like I was a ghost, I could see my family and friends interact but I couldn't be a part of it, I couldn't be with them. Then for a while after you gave me to Lan it was worse; I was lonelier than ever. I was back in my universe but I couldn't be me, I was dead to him. After a while it got better, I guess I adapted, I even got use to the lying. But I'm glad that all that's over, I don't have to feel so confused anymore."

"Hub, I'm so sorry," Dr. H replied, "I wish I could do it all over."

"But you can't," Mega mentioned, "and don't worry about it, things have turned out ok, believe it or not I'm happy."

"Really?"

"Really."

* * *

Back at the Javedson residence both Terra and Whisper remained on the front porch. Whisper wasn't ready to go in and Terra was waiting patiently by her side, little did they know they were being watched.

Inside the house Amy Javedson watched her daughters outside, they had been out there a while and by the looks of it, it seemed like Terra was comforting her sister. That meant only one thing. They knew the truth…

"Are you ready to go in?" Terra asked, honestly she was tired of staying outside.

"Not really," Whisper replied, "I mean Mom's in there Airie, what am I suppose to do, walk in the door and say, 'Hi mom, remember me, I'm your dead daughter.'

"Well it is always best to rip the bandage off quickly." Terra said.

"You can't be serious."

"Ok, maybe you should show more consideration and tact, but you're going to have to tell her somehow and however you spin it it's going to sound ridiculous. That's just the way it is."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Believe me, I'm not," Terra replied, "I just think it's pointless in wasting energy off it. So are you going to go in or not?"

"Are you rushing me?" Whisper asked.

"Skyler, we have been out here for an hour and a half, it dark, I'm tired, and the mosquitoes are starting to bite and unlike you I'm susceptible to West Nile, plus I'm sick of being out here! Can we please go in?" Terra pleaded.

"Are you girls ok?" a new voice asked, when Whisper and Terra turned around they saw that it was their mom.

"Yeah," Terra replied begrudgingly, "Whisper's just a little rattled."

"Well rattled or not you girls should come in, it's way past late." Mrs. Javedson said opening the opening the door wider.

"Ok," Terra said happy to obey, Whisper on the other hand was nervous, she had wanted to approach her mom at her own pace, now she was thrown for a loop.

"I'll check the security system, I need something to keep myself busy, I'm not ready to settle down," Whisper said as she walked in touching the console and disappeared in a flash, she wanted to give herself more time.

"Wow, I haven't seen your sister this flustered or nervous in years." Mrs. Javedson commented.

"Yeah I know what you mean," Terra said before it finally registered what her mother had just said, "wait, what?" she asked.

"I know sweetie, I've known for years, come with me, there's a lot I need to tell you." Mrs. Javedson replied as she led Terra into the kitchen.

"How do know? How could you tell?" Terra asked thoroughly confused, this was all happening way to fast for her to keep up, "I didn't think that dad told you."

"A mother can tell anything about her children Terra, and your dad didn't tell me," Mrs. J replied, "he just thought that I'd never find out until her was ready for me to know."

"What made you think that Skyler was still alive?"

"Well at first nothing did, I guess the suspicions started the day after that big eletrical storm. You had come to terms with Skyler's death by then, but then all of a sudden everything bubbled to the surface again. You told me that you had seen her the night before, that she was a navi now. At the time I didn't beleive you, and even you weren't positive; your father said that it was a dream so in time I came to beleive that it had been."

"But?"

"I just kept watching you. I could tell that you never thought that she was fully gone. You could always sense her, twins are two sides of the same coin. After she died I remeber you telling me that at first you thought that she was gone, but that it seemed like you could still feel her at times, but it was faint like she was far away. I thought that maybe you were just finding it impossible to fully let her go, but I held on that it ment something."

"Yeah, her being a navi pretty much cut or tie, and then Dad blocked out Skyler's memories,so after that it but all disappeared. If she couldn't remember who she was, it was like she wasn't alive."

"I remember when she was first given to you, that's when I decided that she had to be alive. Your father said that he built Whisper as a memorial for Skyler, but I just couldn't see him doing that to you. I thought that if that was the case it was cruel, and I knew that he woudn't do something like that to you. And there was just something in his eyes...like everything was going to turn out okay. The only way I thought that everything could ever be okay again was if Skyler was still here. And if that were so she had to be Skyler."

"Wow. That some serious deductive reasoning."

"More like a mother's hope, you know you should go tell you sister, I'm sure she's at her whit's end by now, we can all talk later."

"Ok," Terra replied as she got off her stool and left the room.

When Terra opened her door she found Sky in her bed, face against the mattress. Once Whisper heard her come in she started talking.

"I am such an idiot, Mom was standing right there and what do I do? I say I have to check the security system." Whisper said as she looked up to see Terra smiling, "What are you smiling for?" she asked, "Do you enjoy seeing me wallow?" Terra kept smiling, "Well what?"

"Sky, she knows."

* * *

Chaud stared at the ceiling as he lay in his bed it was amazing how fast things could change, circumstances, relationships, they could all be here and then be gone or change in the blink of an eye. For him everything had changed, he had a brother, he wasn't alone anymore. Once thing was for sure things were going to be different from here on out. There was no longer an _'operator, operative'_ relationship with anyone anymore, only partnership. In fact if anyone was going to be operated it would probably be him, Terra and Lan. Now that was a new thought, he had always been in control. How would he handle things once Proto took over?

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe we're home," Tasha said as she collapsed into her bed. A day that was supposed to be uneventful had turned out to be quite the opposite.

"Well you should just be glad that mom worried herself to sleep, otherwise you'd have to recap the whole day." Breeze said as she stood over her.

"Believe me I've counted my blessings today," Tasha said as she turned over.

"Yeah," Breeze added with a laugh, "one being we've finally found a place that's crazy enough that we actually seem normal."

"Shut up," Tasha said laughing along as she threw a pillow at her.

* * *

Regal looked on at the four pairs of teens, monitoring their every move, love, happiness, a sense of belonging, these were the feelings that were now permeating their existence, it was just too bad that the netsavers newfound security was fixing to come crashing down at it's very core. Regal pushed a button on his thrown.

"You called for us master?" a voice asked on the darkness a few seconds later.

"Yes, "Regal replied addressing his three prized darkloids that had just appeared before him: Dark Megaman, Dark Protoman, and Dark Whisper. "Get everything set, it's time for phase three."

* * *

TBC IN - There's No Time Like the Present


End file.
